Detention Services Agency CEO Kyle Mifsud resigns
Mifsud said he has decided to ‘embark on a new chapter’
Kyle Mifsud, CEO of the Detention Services Agency, has resigned, Times of Malta is informed.
Mifsud’s resignation brings his five-year term as head of the agency to an end. He was first appointed CEO in late 2021, on the watch of then-home affairs minister Byron Camilleri.
His resignation comes just weeks after the home affairs ministry, which is responsible for the agency, changed hands, with Glenn Bedingfield taking over the portfolio.
The agency is responsible for operating Malta’s detention centres in Safi and Ħal Far, providing asylum seekers with restricted accommodation as they await immigration procedures to be completed.
Malta’s detention centres have frequently come under fire for their unsanitary conditions, although a 2023 visit by a Council of Europe delegation noted improvements, despite several shortcomings remaining.
Returning to the healthcare sector
When contacted, Mifsud, a qualified health professional, said he had “decided to embark on a new chapter” by returning to the healthcare sector, a move he described as “a natural progression” in his career.
Mifsud will be taking up a post at Mater Dei Hospital in the coming days.
Sources have described Mifsud, a former mayor of Mtarfa, as a figure who had gained the respect of both staff and detainees across Malta’s detention centres.
In comments to Times of Malta, Mifsud pointed to several initiatives taken throughout his tenure aimed at improving the well-being of detainees. These included the creation of the Migrant
Health Service as well as other specialised health services to support detainees’ physical and mental health.
The agency had also upgraded living quarters and set up educational and recreational initiatives for detainees, Mifsud said, including English-language classes in collaboration with MCAST and sports sessions with the Malta Football Association.
The agency had also worked to support its staff’s development and assist the police authorities in repatriation operations, Mifsud said.
Not yet known who will replace Mifsud
These measures “transformed the detention environment, to the extent that antisocial behaviour, vandalism, absconding incidents and unnecessary hospital admissions were no longer defining features of the agency’s operations,” Mifsud said.
Mifsud thanked both Camilleri and Bedingfield “for their continued trust and unwavering support throughout these years”.
It is not yet known who will replace Mifsud, nor whether the agency will continue to expand the welfare-first approach he said was instituted throughout his tenure.
The authorities appear to have adopted a hard-line approach to migration in recent weeks, with Bedingfield highlighting in Facebook posts a series of police raids through which migrants living illegally in Malta were repatriated.