Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/373141
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 AUGUST 2014 3 News Migrant families, children no longer held in detention 98 undocumented migrants – children and families – transferred to disused Naxxar trade fair hall pending 72-hour medical clearance MATTHEW VELLA 98 migrants rescued on Thursday by the Armed Forces of Malta are being hosted inside the former Trade Fair centre in Naxxar, pending a 72-hour medical clearance. The government yesterday told MaltaToday that the migrants, who are yet to make any asylum claim, are families that formed part of a group of 257 migrants saved at sea by the AFM. "In line with government policy not to detain any children, we did not place them in a closed detention centre," a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said. Joseph Muscat made a commitment to end mandatory child detention in a Freedom Day speech in Vittoriosa on 13 December, 2013. A spokesperson for the ministry for home affairs said that a number of child migrants had already been tak- en to Dar Liedna in Fgura. "Govern- ment's intention is to place families in an open centre." The spokesperson said that a number of migrants refused to co- operate with police when asked to be fingerprinted in the Eurodac system, which stores fingerprints in a Euro- pean database, an instrument used to prevent 'asylum shopping' by claim- ants travelling from one EU country to the other. The undocumented migrants were said to have also refused medical test- ing. Migrants' rights NGOs were said to have complained that the former Naxxar trade fair centre, which is to- day employed by the government as an electoral counting hall, was not a good place to take them. "They said that the migrants should be taken to Lyster Barracks, a deten- tion centre that is used for families. But the migrants refused to move from Naxxar, so it was agreed to move them directly into an open cen- tre." The government spokesperson re- futed suggestions that the migrants were "protesting" against their de- tention. "They were not complaining. But it is hot. There are basic facilities, and they also have beds." Medical clearance for all undocu- mented migrants in Malta takes place over a 72-hour period, during which migrants are kept in closed deten- tion pending any release into an open centre. "We are hoping that the migrants are released into an open centre by next Monday. Under current regula- tions, migrants that are not cleared medically cannot be placed in an open centre," the spokesperson said. Benefiting from the lull in migrant arrivals in Malta, whose rescue ef- forts were given respite by the Ital- ian-sponsored Mare Nostrum opera- tion, a new area in the closed Lyster Barracks detention centre was being refurbished. MaltaToday was told that none of the migrants comes from Ebola-af- fected regions in Africa. Many of the migrants, who prob- ably departed from Libya, are of Syr- ian and Iraqi origin. In May 2014, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat committed his government to end the detention of unaccompa- nied child migrants. Malta detains all age-disputed cases pending an age determination proc- ess, and as a result children below the age of 18 may be detained for weeks or months, despite alternative available facilities. During detention, children are detained with adults, without any accommodation for their young age, and with no access to school. Under international and European standards, unaccompanied children should never be detained for rea- sons related to irregular entry, and pending age determination the per- son claiming to be a child should be treated as such until the determina- tion is complete. During a Freedom Day celebratory rally in 2013, Muscat made a signifi- cant pledge to end the detention of migrant children. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said in 2013 that states should "expeditiously and completely cease the detention of children on the basis of their immigration status". PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD MOAS rescues 227 migrants at sea PRIVATE migrant rescue mission MOAS has saved its first group of migrants, 130 men, 40 women and 57 children, many of whom are infants. The Migrant Offshore Aid Station was officially launched on Monday from Malta by philanthropists and en- trepreneurs Christopher and Regina Catrambone. The migrants were on a wooden fish- ing boat when they ran into trouble in a stretch of sea south of Malta. The MOAS vessel, the Phoenix, was directed to the incident spot by the Italian rescue coordination centre. "We were given command by RCC Rome after we spotted another rubber dinghy with 96 sub Saharan African males. We coordinated with US warship 56, and two merchant vessels. We assisted the sub Saharan Africans onboard the merchant ship," MOAS said. "The US Navy assisted MOAS by providing a RHIB to transport the migrants. No lives were lost and no in- juries were incurred, besides a special needs child who needs insulin, and sev- eral pregnant women." At the time of going to print, people rescued on board were being taken north to rendezvous with an Italian warship. But it was not known whether the Italian boat would take the passengers, or ask to disembark them in Lampedu- sa – 12 hours from the rescue site. MOAS picked up the migrants in distress outside the vast Maltese search and rescue zone. On the day of its launch on Wednes- day, MOAS assisted a Maltese fisher- man and his five-year-old son, who were stranded some miles off the south coast of the island. The Catrambones say they were in- spired by an appeal launched by Pope Francis, and have spent €4 million of their own money to set up the venture. The aim of its operation is not to ferry rescued migrants but for the vessel to act as a station out at sea that will help identify vessels at risk and give first as- sistance in coordination with the mili- tary forces in Malta and Italy. MOAS's centre of operations is based in Malta, and former AFM command- er Martin Xuereb is the director and leader of the MOAS, which is made up of security professionals, medical staff and experienced maritime operators. Between August and October, the MOAS team will sail its 40-metre ex- pedition vessel Phoenix I to major mi- grant shipping lanes and drop anchor. From this fixed point the crew will monitor the area using drones and hu- man lookouts to spot migrant vessels in distress. Another former army man joining MOAS was Marco Cauchi, serving as operations director and first officer. During his 20-year career with the Armed Forces of Malta he participated in search and rescue missions as Search Mission Coordinator and has rescued hundreds of boats. He served as Com- manding Officer of a fleet of AFM pa- trol vessels. The entrance to the former Naxxar trade fair grounds