Government policy states irregular migrants under 18 should be placed in children’s homes, not detention. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

At least one of the irregular migrants sentenced to jail for trying to break out of Safi detention centre was a minor who should have not have been detained with adults at all, in accordance with government policy.

Twenty-eight migrants were jailed on March 3 for offences they committed when they tried to escape detention last September.

The court treated six as being minors when the incident happened and jailed them for between 13 and 15 months.

The Home Affairs Ministry, which is responsible for detention, confirmed to this newspaper that one of the migrants jailed last week had been deemed to be a minor by Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (Awas) after an age assessment was completed.

He is currently serving his sentence in the youth wing of Corradino prison.

While identifying themselves as being under 18, the remaining five had been deemed to be adults by Awas, a Home Affairs spokesperson said.

Officially, the government’s policy is that children should not be held in detention centres at all.

It stresses how messed up, unfair and inhumane the system is

Older teenagers whose ages are in doubt are held in adult centres pending an age verification assessment conducted by Awas.

Those deemed to be under 18 are placed into children’s homes run by Awas.

The Family Ministry, which is responsible for issuing care orders to child asylum seekers and irregular migrants, has yet to respond to questions sent by this newspaper on Tuesday.

The ministry was asked when the prisoner was officially deemed to be a child, when was a care order issued and why was a confirmed child in detention, contrary to the government’s policy.

Speaking to Times of Malta, human rights lawyer Neil Falzon explained the Awas’s age assessments would have no bearing on how migrants were treated by the law courts: “Age assessment is strictly for detention purposes.”

Awas has an age assessment team that is made up of a social worker, a psychology officer and a co-ordinator with a background in social work. If necessary, bone density tests are done to estimate ages, although this is rare.

Dr Falzon doubted whether there would be a legal basis for challenging the conviction of the child based on the fact that he committed a crime while incarcerated in a centre where he should not have been.

“On a non-legal level, of course, it stresses how messed up, unfair and inhumane the system is, where the policy of not detaining children is really not a hard and fast rule but dependant on so many factors. Because of the flawed system, a child is in prison,” Dr Falzon said.

The number of child asylum seekers in Malta is rising. Last year, 25 per cent were declared to be children upon arrival, UNHCR figures show.

Adults who apply for protection are detained until their claims are determined, which usually takes months. They are automatically released after a year.

Rejected asylum seekers and other irregular migrants who cannot be deported are detained for up to 18 months. Exceptions are made for those deemed to be vulnerable, including children.