News • December 14 2003

Journalists can’t visit asylum seekers - Borg

Kurt Sansone
The Police Commissioner has denied MaltaToday the permission to have a journalist and photographer visit the detention centres that house more than 600 asylum seekers even though these people are not criminals and their detention cannot be compared to that of a prison inmate.
Despite the protection asylum seekers are afforded by international conventions, it seems that current government policy is to treat these people on the same level as convicted criminals.
MaltaToday filed its request with the Police Commissioner, the Armed Forces Brigadier, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Home Affairs ministry on Wednesday 10 December.
That same day the Armed Forces informed this newspaper that the request had been passed on to the home affairs ministry. It only took 24 hours to receive a definitive reply from the Police Commissioner: "With reference to your fax dated 10 December, 2003 requesting permission to visit detention centres. It is regretted to inform you that your request cannot be acceded to."
The Police Commissioner gave no explanation why the request was turned down. When MaltaToday asked the Home Affairs minister the reason why permission was denied this newspaper received an equally terse reply. "When he refused permission to visit the detention centres, the Commissioner of Police was following the Government policy of not allowing journalists, both local and foreign, to visit prisons and detention centres."
The minister added: "However, these centres are open for scrutiny to NGOs and other international organisations."
The media has been consistently denied access to the detention centres, a situation, which does little to shed light on the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of the detained asylum seekers.
The indefinite detention time until the heavily understaffed Refugee Commissioner decides their case is leaving its psychological toll on asylum seekers, MaltaToday was told by people in contact with the detainees.
Asylum seekers do not know for how long they are being detained, a situation, which leaves them with nothing to lose and may even contribute to desperate acts of violence or suicide. A volunteer described the situation as alarming, with a good number of asylum seekers losing hope and contemplating suicide.kurt@newsworksltd.com