Court to rule on release of Malian detainees pending human rights case

Lawyer Gianluca Cappitta files urgent court application, requesting immediate release of nine remaining Malian migrants from detention 

33 migrants were held at Safi detention centre last month, but the number has since dwindled to nine
33 migrants were held at Safi detention centre last month, but the number has since dwindled to nine

As politicians, personalities, businesses and the general public alike celebrate the “feast of solidarity” that is the annual l-Istrina fundraising campaign, nine Malian migrants remain locked up inside the Safi detention centre, uncertain and confused about plans to deport them.

Lawyer Gianluca Cappitta plans to put an end to their confusion and has now filed a court application that if accepted will see the migrants released from detention pending the outcome of a constitutional case that is challenging the legality of their removal orders.

It will also ensure that the migrants remain in Malta and that all arrangements to deport them to Mali be put on hold pending the outcome of the case.

“It’s a long shot, but it is my firm belief that the migrants are being detained unfairly,” Cappitta told MaltaToday.

His case looks set to be heard in court on Wednesday, before judge Lorraine Schembri Orland.

Jamburu Jara, Issa Jaruke, Mama Sangare, Wali Traore, Selia Konate, Mamadou Camara, Segu Diba, Mamadou Traore and Ibrahim Camara arrived in Malta at different points between 2008 and 2015. Upon their arrival, the Maltese authorities instantly slapped with a removal order with just a three-day window to contest it, as is protocol for all asylum seekers.

In his constitutional case, Cappitta is arguing that three days is by no means enough time for migrants to challenge their removal orders, and that the indefiniteness of removal orders breaches their human rights.

Indeed, the court application states that the decision to return the men to Mali was taken before they could even apply for refugee status. More worryingly, the men claim that after the decision to repatriate them was made, they were not allowed legal assistance. Neither could they seek out legal help themselves due to the fact they were stuck in detention. The men claim that the “constant obstacles and difficulties” in communicating with their lawyer means they effectively could not appeal the removal order issued against them.

Notwithstanding their removal orders and their failed attempts to apply for asylum, the Malians were allowed to live in Malta due to the fact that they had been granted Temporary Humanitarian Protection –New(THp-n) status, an ex-gratia type of protection that has been in play since 2010. During this time, the men started building lives for themselves in Malta, with work permits issues by the competent authorities. Indeed, Cappitta told MaltaToday that eight of the nine migrants were in employment before they were suddenly arrested and detained.

“One worked at Marsovin, another at Maypole, another as a carpenter…they had integrated into Maltese society,” he said.

However, their lives were turned around after the government decided to scrap the THP-n programme entirely, meaning that removal orders are once again kicking in for those whose THP-n protection expires.

His constitutional case argues that the current Maltese system of removal orders deprives migrants of their right to liberty protected by the European Convention of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees.

“I was finally allowed to speak to the migrants today some ten days after I filed my first request,” Cappitta recounted. “The migrants were perplexed at how they were being detained indefinitely – some of them flat out don’t want to return to Mali, while others would rather get deported than continue living in detention. One of them has an allergic condition that was only identified after he was taken ill and sent to Mount Carmel for treatment.

“None of them had any idea of their rights to appeal the removal orders against them within three days, largely due to language barriers they had encountered upon arrival.”

The lawyer was unable to verify concerns about their living conditions at the Safi detention centre, as he was only allowed to speak to them one by one in an enclosed interview room.

The police on 16 November rounded up and detained 33 migrants as part of a joint EU programme to return failed Malian asylum seekers. However, most of them have since been released – including 15 who were freed on Friday after a delegation from the Malian government failed to verify their identities.  

Is Mali a safe country?

Asked by MaltaToday whether Mali is considered as a safe country of origin, a spokesperson for home affairs minister Carmelo Abela said last month that “security concerns relating to Mali are limited to the country’s northern region,” adding that the government is acting within its rights and obligations.

In November, the UN refugee agency said that in October more than 2,000 men, women and children from northern Mali sought refuge in Mauritania from ongoing banditry and interethnic violence.

More than 135,000 Malians who have fled the conflict in their country live in exile, mainly in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mauritania, where Mbera camp continues to be home to more than 42,000 men, women and children.

UNHCR said the conflict is not contained in the northern part of the country, but frequent security incidents are reported in central Mali which continue to trigger sporadic forced displacement in the region, both internally in Mali and into the other neighbouring countries.