Irregular immigrants 'should be in open centres'
Times of Malta, 25th November 2005, Herman Grech

Putting irregular immigrants in open centres while their case is being heard is a more sensible, rational and ultimately cheaper alternative than detaining them, a top human rights official has advised Malta.

"Malta is using the detention system partly as a deterrent - but it's clearly not working," Melanie Teff, International Advocacy Coordinator for the Jesuit Refugee Service, told The Times in an interview.

Ms Teff was in Malta to take part in a human rights forum debating asylum seekers and refugees in Commonwealth countries. A number of recommendations will now be submitted to the Commonwealth leaders this weekend.

"The pressures on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are so great that they are still going to come, irrespective of the punitive systems imposed. We need to look at the root causes, not at punishing desperate people that have left desperate situations," the JRS official said.

Research in the UK has shown that irregular immigrants do not normally go missing while their case is being determined.

Ms Teff urged countries such as Malta to create a monitoring system where the person must, for example, sign regularly at a police station, or provide a guarantor or open centres. As things stand, irregular immigrants reaching Malta are kept in detention until their request for asylum is decided.

She acknowledged that Malta was proportionately receiving more refugees than other countries and urged other European countries to have a "sensible proportion of responsibility".

Malta has called on its EU counterparts to share the refugee burden, but the response has been lukewarm at best.

However, Ms Teff pointed out that the island had to assume its responsibilities and international obligations in the process:

"Malta still seems to be tackling the immigration issue in crisis mode. I would argue that Malta could have found a more rational system in the meantime. JRS is concerned about the length of detention and conditions here but we also recognise that some improvements have been made."

One has to take into consideration that immigrants have not been charged with any criminal activity.

Detaining refugees, or asylum-seekers, amounts to imposing a penalty on them and is in contravention to the Geneva Convention which provides the same freedom of movement rights for refugees.

There must be access to a legal review to decide whether it is necessary, reasonable and proportionate to detain the person.

Ms Teff said there was a misconception that it was just European countries receiving asylum-seekers and refugees. In fact, European countries currently receive fewer than a quarter of the world's refugees and asylum-seekers.

The vast majority of refugees and asylum-seekers are received by developing countries in Africa and Asia - a responsibility borne disproportionately by the world's poorest countries.