Home Affairs minister brands Amnesty report ‘flawed, partial’

Home Affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici has reiterated the government's disagreement with the interpretation of the Massoud judgement promulgated by Amnesty International in its annual report.

Mifsud Bonnici said Amnesty's claim that the Maltese legal system did not provide a procedure to appeal arbitrary detention, was "flawed" and that detention could be challenged before the Immigration Appeals Board.

"The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Malta because Mr Massoud had been detained without any reasonable prospect of deportation, particularly as insufficient efforts were made with a view to deport him," Mifsud Bonnici said.

The minister added that since detention could be challenged before the Immigration Appeals Board, Malta was in conformity with the Massoud decision.

Amnesty International said in its 2012 annual report that no measures have yet been taken by the government to implement the 2010 judgement of the Strasbourg court in the case of Louled Massoud versus Malta, which found that "the Maltese legal system did not provide for a procedure capable of avoiding the risk of arbitrary detention pending deportation."

Asylum seekers whose claims are rejected on appeal before their 12-month detention period is up have their detention extended by a further six months, a situation which the ECHR ruled is illegal because there is no realistic prospect that any deportation takes place within those six months.

Amnesty also said the Returns Directive as transposed in Malta, which provides for a common standard amongst EU member states when detaining and returning people who stay in a country illegally, excludes those who enter Malta irregularly, and does not apply to the vast majority of those it was meant to protect.

More than 160 such persons have been repatriated to various African countries since the beginning of 2012, something Mifsud Bonnici insisted was "in full compliance with Malta's international obligations."

The minister accused Amnesty International of being "one of a handful of international institutions" which failed to support Malta in its appeal for international assistance and solidarity.

"Malta has an excellent asylum track record. Notwithstanding its exposure to disproportionate asylum pressures, where Malta received the largest number of asylum applications per capita of the 44 industrialised countries worldwide, Malta has a very high asylum recognition rate, consistently exceeding the 50% mark," Mifsud Bonnici said.

The minister also reiterated that Malta's detention policy was in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mifsud Bonnici also accused Amnesty's annual report of containing outdated information and of overlooking positive developments that gave a very partial picture of the migration and asylum scenario in the country.

"The remaining tent village is being replaced by mobile homes, which means that the information being cited by Amnesty International in their report is now outdated. Amnesty should be reminded that the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers has undertaken several integration-oriented programmes for beneficiaries of international protection and asylum seekers utilising relevant EU funding streams."