Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1110343
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 APRIL 2019 JAMES DEBONO AN annual report by a monitor- ing board on conditions inside detention centres found no signs of ill treatment but denounced the lack of privacy faced by de- tainees, who are forced to use blankets as curtains to delineate their private space. Moreover, the main complaint of residents inside the Safi de- tention centre for asylum seek- ers remains the quality and vari- ety of the food offered to them, according to the Monitoring Board of Detained Persons an- nual report for 2018 shows. The board, chaired by former Labour MP Luciano Busuttil, visited the persons detained at the Safi Detention Centre 47 times, speaking to practically all people held in detention. The report throws a light on the plight of a detained Chinese woman who cannot commu- nicate with anyone due to the lack of translators. The report recommended that to facilitate the communication between the detainees and staff a list of contracted translators should be provided at the detention centre. "As at to-date we are finding it extremely difficult to communicate with one Chinese detainee who is currently being detained alone, since she is the only female there. This detainee does not understand English and both staff and board mem- bers fail to understand the Chi- nese language." The board also denounced the absence of an alarm system in the area housing detained per- sons, which had been already noted in its annual report for 2017. "The only manner in which detained persons and members of the board visiting the centre can alert the deten- tion personnel on duty, is by shouting and banging on the iron door." According to the board's an- nual report for 2018, the rela- tively small number of persons detained in the Safi barracks and "the positive attitude of the majority of the staff" has con- tributed to "the improvement in the atmosphere at the detention centre". "Overall, the detainees appear calm and quite relaxed with the officers in charge. When inter- viewed, they rarely or practically never complain about ill-treat- ment," the report said. Most complaints made to the committee were related to the length of their detention, the tel- ephone system and inadequate clothing in the colder months. Despite what it described as an improvement in the quality of food during 2018 "the vast ma- jority of complaints" made by inmates still concerned the vari- ety of the food offered to them. Board members were at times shown small aluminium con- tainers containing pasta which had been thrown away un- opened due to it being "ined- ible". In last year's annual report, the board had noted improvements in the quality of the food after the menu at the detention cen- tre was changed. "Following this meeting, for a period of time, there were no complaints re- garding the quality of the food," had said. In its report the board called for greater respect for the pri- vacy of detainees. Noting that being "deprived of one's free- dom of movement is already a very severe measure", it called for the installation of cubicles or other separators between beds, "thereby respecting the dignity and privacy of detainees." It noted that detainees are re- sorting to the use of a blanket to separate their bed area from that of others. "Such arrange- ments make the place look very shabby, and leaves detainees with only one blanket to cover themselves at night; we recom- mend that proper curtains to cover individual beds thus give more privacy to the detainee". It also called for a designated area with facilities for sports and training, including suitable equipment as well as a multi- faith prayer room. The board has recommended that detainees should be al- lowed to use their personal mo- bile phones to enable them to contact their family members or friends abroad. Compared to previous years when detention centres accom- modated hundreds of persons at a time, the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 were described as "relatively calm". Such periods of low activity should be utilised for the con- tinuation of specialised training of the detention staff and the ongoing maintenance of deten- tion facilities, the board said. "During such periods it is easier to carry out upgrading works. Since the building was built as barracks almost half a century ago, it requires a good refur- bishment programme." With this consideration in mind the board called for the appointment of an architect to inspect and report on the urgent works that need to be carried out to safeguard the safety re- quirements of detained persons. During the year 2018, a total of 168 persons spent time at the Safi Detention Centre. These migrants hailed from 34 differ- ent countries. The largest num- ber of detained persons hailed from Serbia. At the end of 2018, four de- tainees had spent between 240 and 446 days in the detention centre. The Monitoring Board for De- tained Persons was established in 2007 "to act as the body of persons responsible for a Na- tional Preventive Mechanism for the prevention of torture, as provided for in the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention." The regulations provide that the board shall "satisfy itself as to the treatment of detainees, the state of deten- tion centres premises and the administration of the detention centres". The board chaired by Luciano Busuttil also includes Chev. Al- fred Abela, Angela Azzopardi and Yovanca Barbara as mem- bers. NEWS Report finds detainees using blankets to delineate their private space instead of covering themselves at night, and calls for migrants to be allowed personal mobile phones to communicate with relatives Lack of privacy inside detention centres Nationality of detained persons in 2018 Entered in 2018 Left in 2018 Serbia 22 22 Bangladesh 15 15 Moldova 13 13 China 11 10 Libya 9 11 Macedonia 8 8 Detainees are resorting to the use of a blanket to separate their bed area from that of others. "Such arrangements leave detainees with only one blanket to cover themselves at night" PHOTO GILBERT CALLEJA Qed jintlaqgħu kwotazzjonijiet magħluqin jew permezz tal-imejl fuq electoral.office@gov.mt jew iddepożitati bl-idejn fit-tender box fl-Uffiċċju Elettorali, Evans Building, Triq il-Merkanti, il-Belt Valletta, VLT 2000 sal-10.00 a.m. ta' nhar il-Ħamis, id-9 ta' Mejju, 2019, għal: Kwot. Nru.02/2019 Provista ta' karozzi bix-xufier minn nhar is-Sibt 25 sal-Ħadd 26 ta' Mejju, 2019 Kwot. Nru.03/2019 Provista ta' karozzi bix-xuf ier minn nhar it-Tnejn 20 sal-Ħamis 23 ta' Mejju, 2019 Kwot. Nru. 04/2019 Għawdex – Trasport varju Kwot. Nru. 05/2019 Għawdex – Trasport varju Il-kwotazzjonijiet jistgħu jitniżżlu mis-sit www.electoral.gov.mt jew jinġabru mill-Uffiċċju Elettorali, Evans Building, Triq il-Merkanti, Il-Belt Valletta, VLT 2000 mit-8.00 a.m. sas-2.00 p.m. AVVIŻ MILL- KUMMISSJONI ELETTORALI www.electoral.gov.mt