Detention centre phones often off, blocking migrants from speaking to lawyers
It is becoming increasingly difficult for human rights lawyers to communicate with detainees
Communal phones inside Malta’s detention centres are routinely switched off when new groups of migrants arrive, preventing human rights lawyers from contacting detainees, according to Aditus director Neil Falzon.
Speaking at an event on Malta’s detention regime on Wednesday, the human rights lawyer said the phones have been disconnected repeatedly over the past two to three years, sometimes for up to two weeks.
Since detained migrants have their personal mobile phones confiscated, communal phones are their only means of contacting family members or lawyers.
This happened at the end of 2025, when 44 migrants were repatriated two weeks after landing in Malta. During this period, workers at Aditus repeatedly attempted to contact detainees through the detention centre’s communal phone but the line remained disconnected.
“We never got the chance to talk to anyone. Maybe they were vulnerable people and they wanted to apply for asylum. We don’t know as we were never able to speak to them,” Falzon said.
Phone disconnections began around the time amendments to immigration regulations were implemented in 2023, Falzon said. These amendments allowed border officers to detain any person while conducting border checks.
This issue, among others, was raised at an event where Aditus launched the website detention.mt, which was part-funded by the German NGO PRO ASYL and provides an overview of how detention centres in Malta function.
“At a national level, there is still very little discussion about what is happening at Safi’s detention centre and China House in Ħal Far. Keeping it shrouded in mystery allows for the detention regime to continue,” Falzon said.
Lawyers restricted to six clients per visit and a boardroom
During the event, Falzon and the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Malta, Katrine Camilleri, discussed how it is becoming increasingly difficult for human rights lawyers to communicate with detainees, especially as the government began shifting its migration policy to focus primarily on returns.
A few months ago, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said that Malta’s “tough but fair” irregular migration policy is working as Malta is returning close to 80 per cent of failed asylum seekers.
“These restrictions were implemented at a time under this administration when the government shifted its focus towards returns. This has made it a lot more difficult for us to work,” Camilleri said.
Previously, lawyers had greater access to their clients and the detention centre. Now, they may meet a maximum of six detainees per visit and they can only visit them in the boardroom.
“This means that, usually, several weeks pass until detainees get to speak to a lawyer,” Falzon said.
When they manage to reach detainees by phone, Camilleri said they have “reason to believe” the calls are being monitored. “They could be having private conversations with family members but they are never told,” she said.
Also, CCTV cameras are set up in the boardroom, she added.
“Their possessions are also confiscated and they are all given a uniform to wear – a very Guantanamo-like approach. The same tracksuits, the same flip-flops, the same clothes.”
Last year, Aditus and JRS called for regular access to detention centres after a Council of Europe report found that many detainees had inadequate access to medical care and legal assistance.
A few months ago, a watchdog tasked with overseeing conditions at the Ħal Far and Safi migrant detention centres expressed frustration at the government’s failure to heed its recommendations.
Earlier this year, the constitutional court found that the government breached a teenage asylum seeker’s fundamental rights by detaining him. The court awarded him €5,000 in compensation.