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Council of Europe issues a Critical report on Detention of asylum
seekers in Malta
22 October, 2003
Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles
criticised the government of Malta in its handling of asylum
seekers. He said that ‘in
comparison [Maltese] prisons, the detention centres here in Malta are
shocking …this is an area which needs urgent action’. Mr Gil-Robles is expected to
publish his findings by the end of the year on the detention of asylum
seekers. The report will be presented to the Committee of Ministers and
the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE.
The commissioner said ‘the
heavily overcrowded detention centres were leading to difficult living
conditions and the asylum seekers were living in these conditions for an
excessively lengthy period of time’.
Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles
reminded his audience that asylum seekers are not criminals but, in the
vast majority, are forced to flee their war-torn countries.
During his press conference
Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles mentioned the fact that the asylum seekers are being
taken to hospital handcuffed like criminals. He also said ‘it was unacceptable for illegal
immigrants to be detained in Malta for one to two years before their
application was processed’.
EHDR-UK and NECS-Europe
campaigned hard to disclose the suffering of the Eritreans in Maltese
camps.
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