Government will not compensate or apologize to freed Malian migrants

The government will not financially compensate or even apologize to the nine Malian migrants who were released on Tuesday after three months in detention.

Repeatedly questioned by MaltaToday during a press conference on whether the government will compensate or apologize to the migrants, home affairs minister Carmelo Abela referred the media to his comments passed yesterday.

“It is not a question of owing them something, but a question of their status,” he said. “They were and still are failed asylum seekers, as there is no expiry date on that status.”

The Malian men were released from detention on Tuesday, a few hours before a planned protest in front of the Safi detention centre where they had been held for three months.

The nine were the last remaining of 33 Malians who were rounded up and detained on 16 November last year, as part of a joint EU programme which saw the EU agree to provide aid to Mali in return for the West African country’s commitment to accept failed asylum seekers.

Abela said that the men were released because the government had no indication of when Mali would send their documents, but insisted that they will be deported to their country of origin once their paperwork comes through.

“All EU countries have recognized the challenge posed by immigration,” he said. “There are immigrants who leave their homeland fleeing war, but then there are economic migrants. Economic migrants who don’t qualify for asylum are going to be sent back.”