Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/922844
maltatoday SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 26 A report conducted for the European Parliament on the EU-25's immigration policies and detention centre has called upon the EU to political recognise the specificities of Malta's problem and plan actions for sharing responsibili- ties. The report is authored by Solène Gué- rinot, who conducted meetings with main stakeholders including manage- ment staff from the detention services, the Organisation for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers which manages the open centre, and NGOs such as the Jesuit Refugee Service and Médecins du Monde. But the report also invites Malta to "radically reform" its detention policy and conform to standards on the pro- tection of fundamental rights it has signed up to. According to the report, there is no legal limit to the duration of detention, which technically provides access to employment to asylum seekers after 12 months; but which can keep rejected asylum seekers detained up to 18 months. "Detention conditions do not respect the human dignity of detainees: over- crowding, insalubrity, extremely poor hygiene, arbitrary regimes, deficient healthcare, information and legal aid systems, lack of interpreters, police brutality," were among the conditions listed – but not delved into any further – in the report. It said the Hal Far open centre, name- ly the tent village, "cannot remain in its current state but should be converted into a centre with proper buildings. In no circumstances should it be used to accommodate vulnerable persons." The report said the combination of both long duration and detention conditions meant the detention period was "propitious to the development of psychological disorders and can engender the social and psychological de-structuring of people who will then find it even more difficult to integrate on a long-term basis into Maltese society and whose first experience of Europe will have been synonymous with abuse and the infringement of their fundamental rights." However, the report noted that rejected asylum seekers are not left on the streets. In Malta, all detainees, no matter what their status, are released after 12 months or 18 if they rejected. On release they are accommodated in open centres and received social assistances by means of a bi-monthly benefit. They are also usually author- ised to free healthcare "but in practice have difficulty assessing healthcare," the report continues. The report also noted that the treat- ment of vulnerable persons in the centres was satisfactory. "The only problems encountered are the struc- tural difficulties generally associated with the reception of asylum seekers." The report recommended that Malta deals with the phenomenon of migra- tion through a long-term strategy and accept that repressive measures were dehumanising and ineffective, ulti- mately unable to stop the f low. It proposed setting up cost-effective alternatives to detention, reducing de- tention periods, and ensure detention is also subject to judicial review. It urged the improvement on the provision of information on detainee's rights such as legal assistance, inter- preters, standard procedures in all detention centres, and all available in the detainee's own language. It also recommended awarding NGOs unrestricted access to assist detainees and increasing the number of social workers on site. The report said access to healthcare had to be improved, as well as the physical conditions in the detention centres and open centres. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. News – 6 January, 2008 Report to EP urges closure of Hal Far tent village Opinion Qalb it-Tfal Foundation donates life supporter mannequins to Mater Dei Gozo home of Mgr Gauci not used according to his wishes Qalb it-Tfal Foundation together with the highly dedicated staff at the NPICU (Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit) in Mater Dei Hospital has set up a Basic Life Support programme at the NPICU to teach and guide new parents on how to deal with stressful situations including choking, CPR and assess- ing their new born child. To set up the programme, the foundation purchased six Basic Life Support mannequins – two spe- cialised mannequins for health care professionals to improve their skills whilst the other four are to be used to teach Basic Life Support Skills to a wider audience including staff and the general public. The manne- quins, unveiled over the Christmas period, will be loaned out to health care professionals, BLS provid- ers and for teaching purposes in schools and Mater Dei Hospital in the NPICU where they are based. Working alongside the Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (NPICU) and the Medical Illustra- tion Unit at Mater Dei Hospital, Qalb it-Tfal Foundation is set to release multidisciplinary informa- tive video clips and leaflets to help educate parents on how to use Basic Life Support skills on their neonates and children. The mannequins were purchased thanks to the fundraiser organ- ised by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, along with the sponsor- ships from Prohealth LTD, Ganado Advocates and Blevins Franks Charitable Foundation and many donations from the public. Qalb it-Tfal Foundation is committed to continuing its work to help and support children in need within our society, as vulnerable children need to be heard. The foundation is aiming to: • Provide a counselling/psycho- logical service to parents and staff within the NPICU in the first quarter of 2018. • Purchase or rent an apartment where families are able to stay, so that they can be close to their children whilst they are in the NPICU. This is a long-term project which has no date, yet it is one of the projects QIT would like to reach one day. • Continue to help children suffering, but in 2018 put more focus on children suffering due to a problematic social background. Qalb it-Tfal Foundation offers constant support to the Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (NPICU), Mater Dei Hospital, Malta. The foundation is a voluntary organisation that raises money through fundraising activities throughout the year. Through the money raised the NPICU at Mater Dei Hospital already benefitted from a Cooling Cap machine which helps neonates with perinatal asphyxia, folding beds and other necessities for parents of long-term paediatric cases and neonatal nests which help staff nurture and posi- tion NPICU babies as if they are still in their mother's womb. Miguel Pace Qalb it-Tfal Foundation The exponents – Rev. Fr Vic- tor Vella, Douglas Andrew Savege, Rev. Mgr Dr Joseph Vella Gauci, and Rev. Fr John Mejlak – are next of kin to the deceased Reverend Monsignor Dr Anton Gauci who in virtue of a deed of donation enrolled in the records of Notary Paul George Pisani of the 9th March 2013 had inter alia as- signed and transferred by way of donation to Victor Gus- man, administrative secretary and in representation of the aforesaid diocese, the residen- tial house of the donor without number and named Villa Mons Gauci situated in Pope Paul John II Street, Rabat, Gozo, with the land adjacent to it both at the front and the rear occupying the area of about 1760 square metres, subject to the express condition that this property shall be perennially used for pious, pastoral and charitable purposes. The exponents have an immediate interest to safe- guard the memory of the late Reverend Monsignor Dr Anton Gauci as well as to bring to the attention of respondents instances of defaults and de- viations from the intentions of the said Reverend Monsignor Dr Anton Gauci in the transfer of the aforementioned proper- ty and the purposes for which it was transferred and the use that is being made thereof. It was recently broadcasted that part of the same prem- ises has been inaugurated as a centre for artists who carry out artistic works for the Church and that accord- ing to the Bishop of Gozo who has opened officially the same centre "this is a project aimed at improving the art and the liturgy, which he said go hand in hand, because they make visible that which is not seen." The exponents feel that the inauguration of this centre does not respect the true will of the donor because the development of art whether for liturgical purposes or other- wise, does not fall within the definition of neither pious, nor pastoral nor even charitable purpose and does not fit in within the framework of the Catholic social teaching (CST) throughout the ages. More significantly the man- agement of this centre shall involve an economic commit- ment of considerable propor- tions which should be re- f lected in the diocesan annual report and accounts which to date have not been published. While formally bringing all the above to the attention of the Gozo Bishop's curia as respondents, the exponents are as of now firmly protesting against those actions which do not respect the true wishes of the donor, and as of now hold the respondents in culpa, dolo and mora for all intents and purposes of the law. Dr Alfred Grech Victoria, Gozo