1. Preliminary remarks; (Read full CPT report)
8. Malta, a small densely populated Mediterranean island of around 515,000 people, measuring
some 246 km², is situated in a highly strategic location at the border of Europe, lying directly north
by sea from Tripoli, Libya. For asylum seekers and migrants crossing the Mediterranean, some from
conflict-ridden home countries and others desperate to better their lives, it is one of the first countries
that they can reach by small boat or indeed rubber dinghy.
The CPT previously visited Malta in 2015, when very few asylum seekers and migrants were
reaching Malta, in part due to the Mare Nostrum policy3 and bi-lateral agreements with Italy and the
EU, including European maritime rescue operations and Italy’s automatic disembarkation of all
rescued persons, which resulted in Italy intercepting and receiving many migrants and asylum seekers
who might have otherwise reached Malta by sea. From 2015 to mid-2018, during a period of relative
calm, Malta embarked on various reforms to prepare for the rise in the number of migrants heading
to the borders of Europe (see section c). After a change in the above policies and agreements, Malta
now has to cope with those migrants leaving Libya and heading to its shores.
At the time of the visit, the reception system was straining to manage the arrival of a steadily
rising number of migrants. As of September 2020, Malta hosted an estimated 13,000 refugees and
asylum seekers, one of the largest numbers per capita in Europe. Sea arrivals increased from 1,445 in
2018 to 3,405 in 2019.4 From January to August 2020, 2,162 people were rescued at sea and
disembarked in Malta. According to UNHCR, around 26% declared themselves to be children, of
whom 500 were unaccompanied. There was an exceptionally low number of arrivals in April and
May 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Malta’s Search and Rescue (SAR) policies, followed
by an increase from June 2020 onwards, when disembarkation was permitted again, although
occasionally delayed by negotiations for EU relocation. The Maltese authorities have called for help
from other EU member states to take on some of the “disproportionate burden” faced by Malta.
9. Further, the Covid-19 pandemic and a resurgence in the number of cases over the summer of
2020 in Malta, have placed additional strain on Malta and its asylum and reception system.
10. The CPT acknowledges that the challenge of a public health crisis combined with the arrival
of relatively high numbers of migrants cannot be underestimated and requires a pan-European and
multi-stakeholder approach to assist Malta in implementing its strategy on the reception of migrants
and asylum-seekers. Nonetheless, the State cannot derogate from its duty to ensure that all migrants
who are detained are treated with dignity and held in humane and safe conditions. This was not the
case at the time of the visit.
11. Overall, the CPT’s delegation found a system that was struggling to cope, and which relied
on a purely “containment” approach for immigration detention. Conditions of detention and
associated regimes for migrants deprived of their liberty appeared to be bordering on inhuman and
degrading treatment as a consequence of the institutional neglect.
Migrants were generally locked in accommodation units with little, if any, access to time
outside, in severely overcrowded spaces, and essentially forgotten for months on end. This neglect
came from both the management and staff of the establishments, but also from a government policy
that has not focussed sufficiently on how to cope with the increasing numbers of migrant arrivals. As
a result, it was detaining migrants en masse, many for unlawful and arbitrarily long periods under
public health orders and others for long periods under the reception and removal orders, along with a
lack of due process safeguards.
The cumulative effect of a lack of basic rights, poor conditions and frustration at long
detention periods and a lack of information on their situation, has contributed to a notable increase in
escapes, attempted escapes and riots from June 2020 onwards. Further, the Detention Service, whose
staff and resources were over-stretched by the crisis, also needs significantly greater investment (see
the section on Staff below). Indeed, the CPT considers that certain of the living conditions, regimes, lack of due process
safeguards, treatment of vulnerable groups and some specific Covid-19 measures undertaken are so
problematic that they may well amount to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of
the European Convention on Human Rights.
12. Concerted action is required to radically change this situation. To begin with, there needs to
be a shift of approach towards migrants, recognising that they are not criminal offenders and should
not be held in prison-like conditions. The push-factors for migrants to undertake such hazardous
journeys are far greater than any dissuasive effect harsh conditions might have.5 Moreover, subjecting
migrants to the harsh treatment found during the CPT’s visit is contrary to European values and
international human rights law. In reviewing how to reform and restructure immigration detention
policy and facilities, the dignity of the human person must be borne in mind.
From the above flows a second necessary reform, which is the need to reduce the length of
immigration detention in Malta, notably by reviewing the application of the public health ordinance
restriction of movement procedure and addressing the removal orders quicker in order to reduce the
number of persons in detention. In addition, the immigration detention estate needs to be upgraded
and policies revamped to ensure that migrants who are detained are held in open-plan centres (i.e.
with a layout facilitating an internal open-door regime) and provided with access to a purposeful
regime and the necessary support services. In this way, Malta will be able to better live up to the
aspirations set out in its 2015 Reception Strategy and reformed legislation in practice, and not just on
paper.
13. In addition, it is evident, as the CPT has stated in the past, that a country of the population and
size of Malta should benefit from a European approach to the challenges of increased migration into
the continent of Europe. As the CPT has reiterated in the past, Malta needs the European Union to
play a far more proactive role in providing it with support and in facilitating the transfer of migrants
to other European countries and/or back to their countries of origin in conformity with international
human rights and refugee law.
