Released Malian nationals still in line for deportation, minister says

The 14 migrants who were recently released from the Safi detention centre are still living in a state of limbo, as the home affairs minister confirmed that the authorities still plan to deport them. 

The migrants, who had failed to obtain asylum but were later granted a form of protection status, were amongst those arrested in November as part of a joint-EU programme to deport failed Malian asylum seekers.

However, they were released from detention a few weeks later after a delegation from Mali failed to identify them as Malian nationals. 

Home affairs minister Carmelo Abela confirmed with MaltaToday that the migrants had previously self-identified themselves as Malian with the Maltese authorities.

“These persons were interviewed once more by the police authorities with a view to establishing their nationalities,” he said. “The authorities will still seek to return these people to their countries of origin, although at this stage they still have the opportunity to return voluntarily.” 

Meanwhile, the news that representatives of the Malian government had travelled to Malta to verify the identities of the migrants, has made waves in the Malian press. This is because it sharply contradicts claims by Malian foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop that his government would not help the European Union in the identification and return of failed Malian asylum seekers. 

The EU announced earlier this month that it had signed a deal with Mali that will see it provide funds to the West African country in return for its agreement to accept failed asylum seekers and up its game in fighting human smugglers. 

‘At this stage the migrants still have the opportunity to return to their home countries voluntarily’ – home affairs minister Carmelo Abela. Photo: James Bianchi

However, Diop has insisted that such a deal was never signed and has demanded that the EU deny that such an agreement has been reached. 

News website MaliActu has reported that Malian migrants are already being deported from France to the capital Bamako, and that they are arriving at the Malian airport in handcuffs. 

It also quoted an unnamed Malian migrant as saying that Malians “are being treated like dogs” in Malta. 

“When we asked why this was, we were told that it was our government that authorized this,” the migrant was quoted as saying. “After braving the Sahara and the sea and suffering imprisonment for a year before being released, it is appalling that it is ultimately our own government that facilitates our repression. We are being betrayed by our own government.” 

When asked to comment on Diop’s denial, Carmelo Abela said that the “competent Malian authorities” had in fact sent an identification team to Malta. The team remained in Malta for a few days so as to conduct interviews with irregular migrants who had self-identified with the Maltese authorities as Malian nationals. 

The team’s presence in Malta was separately confirmed by Gianluca Cappitta, a lawyer who has filed a court case to free the nine remaining Malian migrants from the detention centre on the ground that they weren’t given enough time to appeal the removal orders that had been slapped onto them the moment they arrived in Malta.

“The migrants I spoke to told me that they had been vetted by an identification team who asked them a few questions, mainly about their identity and about which part of Mali they hailed from,” he told MaltaToday.