Malta Refugee Council welcomes the CPT report on Malta’s detention regime

Mar 12, 2021

Latest news

JRS Malta launches complaints procedure

We are here for you…  At JRS we do our best to provide clients with a professional service focused on supporting clients’ needs. We do our utmost to help clients feel respected and supported, as we meet their needs. If however there has been a situation where you have...

read more

Call for maternity leave cover: advocacy and administration

JRS Malta is seeking to recruit a Maternity Leave Cover – Advocacy & Administration to work with forced migrants and asylum seekers. The selected candidate will be offered a 6-month definite term full-time contract. As this post is a maternity leave cover, renewal...

read more

JRS is seeking to recruit a Lawyer

JRS Malta is seeking to recruit a LAWYER, to work with asylum seekers and immigrants in Malta. The post is a full-time post, however applications from individuals wishing to work part-time or reduced hours will also be considered. Individuals who cannot work at least...

read more

JRS statement on Assisted Voluntary Euthanasia

Dying with dignity is not about deciding when to die, but about making sure every person is cared for, given adequate pain management, and never made to feel like a burden. Accompanying refugees at the end of their lives, we have witnessed first-hand the excruciating...

read more

Updated: JRS Malta is looking for cultural mediators

JRS Malta is seeking to recruit CULTURAL MEDIATORS who are fluent in the following languages: Bangla, French, Spanish, Tigrinya, Ukrainian The selected candidate will be offered a six-month contract of service - renewable upon review - to support members of the JRS...

read more

JRS Malta launches call for Researcher

JRS Malta is launching a call for Expression of Interest for a researcher to work with the Project Research Coordinator to conduct a mapping exercise into the needs and sources of support of asylum seekers who identify as vulnerable. This task is part of the RRF...

read more

“To respect human dignity, Malta’s detention system needs urgent reforms!”

Malta Refugee Council welcomes the CPT report on Malta’s detention regime.

The Malta Refugee Council fully endorses the report published earlier this week by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). We welcome the report as a clear confirmation of the concerns repeatedly flagged by several of our members. In particular, we share the CPT’s findings that Malta’s detention regime verges on “institutional mass neglect by the authorities,” with sub-standard living conditions exacerbating a disregard for international norms on the detention of persons.

Whilst we fully acknowledge the serious challenges Malta continues to face in receiving relatively large numbers of asylum-seekers, we nonetheless underline the CPT’s observation that these challenges “cannot absolve the Maltese authorities of their international human rights obligations.” We also echo the report’s appeal to the European Union and the Council of Europe to provide a consolidated approach to address Malta’s situation.

Within this context, we are keen to note the positive developments brought about by the new Detention Services Director. We hope these developments are merely the first steps of a major overhaul of the situation in the centres. It is in this spirit that we invite the authorities to engage with us in a discussion centred on a reform of Malta’s detention regime. Together with the urgent recommendations made by the Committee, we are particularly eager to explore more humane and dignified alternatives to the current regime while ensuring full compliance with Malta’s international and European human rights commitments. Alternatives do exist.

11 March 2021

_________________________________________________________________________________

The Malta Refugee Council is a network of Maltese non-governmental organisations working for the promotion of the fundamental human rights of persons in forced migration. The Council’s mission is to advocate for legislation, policies and practices that are in accordance with Malta’s international obligations and best practice in the sector. Furthermore, the Council seeks to foster an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of refugees.

Latest news stories

JRS Malta launches complaints procedure

We are here for you…  At JRS we do our best to provide clients with a professional service focused on supporting clients’ needs. We do our utmost to help clients feel respected and supported, as we meet their needs. If however there has been a situation where you have...

JRS is seeking to recruit a Lawyer

JRS Malta is seeking to recruit a LAWYER, to work with asylum seekers and immigrants in Malta. The post is a full-time post, however applications from individuals wishing to work part-time or reduced hours will also be considered. Individuals who cannot work at least...

JRS statement on Assisted Voluntary Euthanasia

Dying with dignity is not about deciding when to die, but about making sure every person is cared for, given adequate pain management, and never made to feel like a burden. Accompanying refugees at the end of their lives, we have witnessed first-hand the excruciating...

Updated: JRS Malta is looking for cultural mediators

JRS Malta is seeking to recruit CULTURAL MEDIATORS who are fluent in the following languages: Bangla, French, Spanish, Tigrinya, Ukrainian The selected candidate will be offered a six-month contract of service - renewable upon review - to support members of the JRS...

JRS Malta launches call for Researcher

JRS Malta is launching a call for Expression of Interest for a researcher to work with the Project Research Coordinator to conduct a mapping exercise into the needs and sources of support of asylum seekers who identify as vulnerable. This task is part of the RRF...