Union claims immigrants in detention ‘purposely’ self-harm to move to Mt Carmel Hospital, orders nurses to refuse admission

Updated at 2:42pm with MUMN statement on hospital management pledge 

Nurses at Mt Carmel Hospital have been directed by their union to refuse admission to immigrants from detention centres who are transferred there after causing self-harm.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses claimed on Friday that immigrants are “purposely causing self-harm” and “abusing the system” to move to Mt Carmel Hospital.

The union said the high influx of immigrants in the mixed admission wards at the hospital was causing “serious harassment to other patients and staff”.

“Such illegal immigrants have no medical oral treatment but are just on the wards causing havoc and harassment to other patients and staff working there,” the MUMN said.

It added that detention officers are stationed outside the ward to avoid overcrowding, leaving the immigrants unattended.

“The fact that illegal immigrants cannot be supervised by their detention officers, means they are free to roam and harass other patients and staff on the ward,” the union said.

The MUMN said that it could not understand why immigrants who self-harm are not treated at a purposely built unit within the detention centre.

The union ordered nurses at Mt Carmel not to admit migrants “who are abusing the system”. The directive was issued with immediate effect.

It called on the Commissioner for Mental Health to evaluate the situation and report the matter to the health and home affairs ministries.

In a subsequent statement on Friday, the union said it was informed by the hospital's management that migrants will be transferred elsewhere. However, the union was not withdrawing its directive until management lived up to its commitment. 

"There is clear evidence that the illegal migrants were using Mount Carmel Hospital on the false pretext that once admitted the illegal migrants can postpone or avoid repatriation or once discharged be placed in an open centre and not detention," the MUMN said.

The union added that it was informed that a facility built recently in the migrant detention centre would be used in the future to house such cases.

‘Detention causes desperation and serious harm’ - Malta Refugee Council 

Reacting to MUMN’s statement, the Malta Refugee Council said they were shocked by the “lack of sensitive” expressed by the union.

“Ample research and our own experiences confirm the severe psychological harm caused by detention. These are otherwise healthy men, women and children who are locked up - often without any legal basis - in living conditions best described as awful and undignified,” the council said.

The council said it too often witnessed “self-harm, suicide attempts and other actions” the union “brushed off as ‘abuse of the system.”

“For us, these are not abuses but the extremely worrying effects of a policy that entirely dehumanises people who, very often, are already suffering from trauma and other severe mental health issues. We see such cases weekly and are deeply saddened that this is the treatment Malta has chosen to offer them.”

The council said it appreciated the challenges facing mental health professionals, including the problematic environment within Mount Carmel Hospital.

“Nonetheless, we must underline the need for all persons to receive appropriate treatment for their mental health problems without discrimination or attention to immigration status,” the council said.