Global Detention Project Survey completed by the Aditus Foundation (Claire Delom) in Malta.
IS THERE A MORATORIUM ON NEW IMMIGRATION DETENTION ORDERS BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?
No
HAVE PEOPLE BEEN RELEASED FROM IMMIGRATION DETENTION BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?
Some asylum-seekers who could provide an address and justify a place to stay were released. No pre-return detainees were released. All new arrivals (boat disembarkation) are immediately detained under health regulation and are not released.
WHAT MEASURES ARE BEING TAKEN TO PREVENT SPREADING OF THE INFECTION AND TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE CARE FOR RELEASED DETAINEES? ARE “ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION” (ATD) PROGRAMS USED?
No special measure is taken when people are released, they only have to provide an address. No ATD to our knowledge (please note most of these detentions were illegal).
ARE IMMIGRATION DETAINEES TESTED FOR COVID-19?
To our knowledge detainees are tested before being released.
HAVE DEPORTATIONS/REMOVALS BEEN HALTED BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC?
To our knowledge, no removal has been carried out during this period.
HAS THE COUNTRY ADOPTED NEW IMMIGRATION AND/OR ASYLUM POLICIES AS WELL AS BORDER CONTROLS IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS?
Malta closed its ports and does not accept any disembarkation. Borders are closed.
- Global Detention Project, “Immigration Detention in Malta,” https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/europe/malta
- Armed Forces of Malta in Protective Clothing Stand Near Rescued Migrants on a Military Vessel After it Arrived in Senglea in Valletta, After an Outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease, (Darrin Zammit, Lupi/Reuters, “Malta Takes in Migrants Hours After Announcing Coronavirus Ban,” Al Jazeera, 10 April 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/malta-takes-migrants-hours-announcing-coronavirus-ban-200410160333984.html)
