Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 OPINION SINCE 28 April 2020 hundreds of individuals rescued from rub- ber boats after fleeing war-torn Libya have been detained on fer- ry boats 13 nautical miles from the coast of Malta. Make no mistake, these people are being forcibly and illegally detained by private security personnel on government chartered pri- vate vessels that should only sail within three nautical miles from land in favourable weather con- ditions. They are not on a tourist joy- ride, sleeping in ensuite cabins and enjoying the sights, in spite of what leaked videos are sug- gesting. They have no contact with the outside world, no con- tact with the authorities and no contact with monitoring bodies or lawyers. They cannot leave the place where they are being held, and in most prob- ability, they have little or no contact with family members. This form of incommunicado detention, compounded by the lack of access to information, for an indefinite period of time constitutes the most serious vi- olation of the norm protecting the right to liberty of human beings. They have been intentionally and cynically left outside the cloak of any legal protection by the government. They have effectively been stripped from rights that you and I take for granted having had the good fortune of being born in a rela- tively stable European country. We wake up and take it for granted that we will not be de- tained without any basis at law and we also assume that if that were to happen, we would have the right to speak to a lawyer. We would never imagine that the state would deprive us of our liberty without any reason- able suspicion of having com- mitted a crime or found guilty of one. We would have our mind at rest that we would have the right to take legal action to remedy any illegal deprivation of liberty and that such deten- tion would be scrutinised by an independent magistrate or judge. We would also know that any such action would catch media attention and that the media would be free to report and scrutinise our claims with- out interference by the State. We would not expect our gov- ernment to use us as politi- cal pawns while we are being deprived of our liberty, for an indefinite period of time, in substandard conditions in a lo- cation that is not recognised as a place of detention at law. We should expect the same of our government towards mi- grants and refugees. We should expect the State to uphold the Constitution and the numer- ous human rights instruments that we, as a nation, are signa- tory to. This also includes relevant European Union law, and ob- ligations related to access to international protection, in particular the principle of non-refoulement, and funda- mental rights. Notwithstanding the fact that the European Un- ion is a union based on solidar- ity and that at this time solidar- ity may seem short on supply, we need to have the confidence not to use human lives as hos- tages in our calls for assis- tance and relocation. There is no doubt that the numerous stand-offs that we have been seeing in the Mediterranean call for an agreement between member states for a predictable system for disembarkation and relocation, which also takes in- to consideration the strain on border states such as Malta. While using all diplomatic and legal channels available to negotiate with other member states, the government needs to understand that floating illegal detention centres are not a long-term solution and that disembarkation needs to happen immediately before conditions deteriorate further. The Commission has reacted strongly to Malta's request for funding for the costly charter- ing of the tourist ferries and relocation assistance in rela- tion to recent events. It has consistently stated that such assistance will be given only after Malta allows for the dis- embarkation and access to the asylum procedure of the people being held onboard. Malta has been the recipient of substantial funding from the European Union migration fund in recent years to assist it in accommodating refugees and asylum-seekers. Figures on the local EU funds website show that in 2016 a Ministry for Home Affairs pro- ject for the construction of a new open centre at Hal Far was approved and over €5 million in EU co-financing funds were allocated. The centre is yet to be built. The same ministry re- ceived close to €6 million for the period between 2014-2022 to cover the costs of material conditions and support for asy- lum seekers being in open and closed centres, almost €1 mil- lion to support for psychosocial intervention services and over €1 million for the provision of security services in centres. The European Asylum Support Office, the EU agency based in Malta, also provides operation- al and technical assistance by deploying over 50 staff to sup- port the asylum determination process. We need to ask ourselves why Malta still operates migration through management-by-cri- sis, without long-term vision or contingency plans for emer- gencies and instead chooses to use human lives as pawns in a bid to find a solution to a global crisis. As citizens we should be de- manding that the Prime Minis- ter and his Cabinet fully adhere to the basic principle laid down in the first line of our Consti- tution: Malta is a democratic country founded on respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual. Carla Camilleri Illegal floating prisons Carla Camilleri is a human rights lawyer and Assistant Director at aditus foundation