Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/786708
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2017 News NGOs: Arrest not in compliance with applicable norms CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "All EU countries have recognised the challenge posed by immigration," Abela said. "You have immigrants who leave their homeland fleeing war...and economic migrants. The facts as they stand today mean the latter are returned." It did not emerge that the Malians qualified for humanitarian pro- tection, he said. "An economic immigrant who doesn't qualify for asylum is go- ing to be sent back." The issue is being discussed "at EU level" Abela said, pointing out that the issue had been dis- cussed in every EU-level meeting of minster s of the interior. This had been confirmed in the Malta summit, he said, which "high- lighted the need for work to be done to tackle the challenge of returning illegal migrants." Malta has a comparatively high amount of cases of granting pro- tection, he claimed. The announcement was wel- comed by a number of NGOs who reiterated that the arrest of the men was not in compliance with applicable norms, "and that is we demanded their immediate release." Noting that the home affairs minister confirmed that dif- ficulties obtaining documenta- tion from Mali was impeding the men's deportation, possibly for an indefinite period, the NGOs said "human rights, EU and Maltese law only allow States to detain migrants prior to their removal when the removal is actually be- ing pursued with due diligence." The statement was signed by aditus foundation, African Media Association, The Critical Insti- tute, Integra Foundation, Inter- national Association for Refu- gees, JRS Malta, KOPIN, Malta Emigrants' Commission, Mi- grant Women Association Malta, Migrant Network for Equality, Moviment Graffitti, Organisa- tion for Friendship in Diversity, People for Change Foundation, Solidarity with Migrants group, SOS Malta and Spark15. "We look forward to further en- gagement with the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Secu- rity to explore ways of ensuring a national migration framework that truly upholds human rights principles," the NGOs said. They also expressed their grati- tude to all supporters of the "gru- elling campaign", especially the media organisations that joined forces for this initiative. NGOs were planning a Valen- tine Day vigil yesterday evening – Valentines Day - at the Safi bar- racks were the men had been held under arrest for 90 days. The arrest of the Malians was a cause of international embar- rassment for government and last week NGOs urged government to release the nine men from deten- tion immediately. The prolonged detention of the nine Malian migrants ahead of their planned deportation goes against national and EU law and breaches their human dignity, a group of human rights NGOs warned. In an open letter to Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat and Abela, the NGOs said "EU and national law clearly state that a govern- ment's power to detain migrants for the purposes of removal is not absolute". "Detention should only be used as a measure of last resort, where it is strictly necessary and where it is not possible to use other less coercive measures to effect re- turn, particularly because of a risk of absconding or lack of co- operation on the part of the indi- vidual concerned. The group of migrants – some of whom have been living in Mal- ta for the past eight years – used to regularly report to the police headquarters to get their papers renewed. However, in November, they appeared for their appoint- ment to renew their documents, only to end up being detained and taken to the detention centre with plans to deport them. Four of them were later released following a review carried out by the Office of the Refugee Com- missioner. In December, a fur- ther 15 migrants were released, followed by another four. Their arrest came after the government's decision to revoke temporary humanitarian protec- tion-New (THPn) permits that used to be issued to failed asylum seekers on an annual basis. "Their status remains that of failed asylum seekers," Abela told a press conference this af- ternoon. "If the documents ar- rive, the police will then seek the people out and deport them if necessary." Abela said that the nine male migrants were positively iden- tified as Malian nationals by a delegation from Mali that visited Malta on 6 and 7 December to conduct interviews. However, the Maltese govern- ment is still awaiting documen- tation from the Malian authori- ties for the nine migrants two months down the line. In Janu- ary, Abela had indicated that the government might be open to re- leasing the migrants from the de- tention centre if their documents take too long to arrive. Man admits to sexual offences against 15-year-old niece MATTHEW AGIUS A man from Senglea yesterday ad- mitted before a court that he had attempted to sexually assault his 15-year-old niece in 2015. Inspector Joseph Busuttil ar- raigned the 49-year-old man be- fore magistrate Charmaine Galea yesterday morning, charging him with attempted violent indecent assault and with harassing the girl, who is now almost 17 years of age, between 2015 and 2016. The court was told how the man, who is not being identified due to court-imposed reporting restric- tions, had made his niece watch pornographic videos with him on several occasions and had at- tempted to commit a violent inde- cent assault on her at least once. Lawyer Christopher Chircop, assisting the accused as legal aid, informed the court that the man wished to plead guilty. The ac- cused confirmed his plea, when asked by the court. Taking into account the man's early admission of guilt, magis- trate Galea imposed a prison sen- tence of one year, suspended for three years, together with concur- rent three-year supervision and protection orders. 'Suspicious package' in Xaghra turns out to be shoebox JEANELLE MIFSUD A "suspicious package" that was re- ported in Xaghra, Gozo, yesterday turned out to be a discarded shoe- box. The Armed Forces of Malta's Bomb Disposal Unit yesterday morning responded to reports of a suspicious package beneath a private vehicle on Triq il-Knisja at about 10:45am. While the police have yet to divulge or confirm any details, state media reported that investigations proved the package to be a discarded shoebox that was blown under the pick-up truck. Upon noticing the box, the vehi- cle's worried owner contacted the police. Home Affairs minister Carmelo Abela (C)