Child unlawfully detained by Malta gets €5k compensation
Minor was also not being kept in an appropriate and dignified environment, court rules
The government breached a teenage asylum seeker’s fundamental rights, a court has found, awarding €5,000 in compensation.
The First Hall of the Civil Courts, presided by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, ruled on Tuesday that Ayoubah Fona was unlawfully detained as a minor in poor conditions.
The case dates to 2021, when Liberian Fona fled his country, eventually reaching Libya and boarding a boat to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Fona was stranded at sea for 10 days without food or water. During this time, 12 others on the boat died.
On November 24, Fona was rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta and treated in hospital for dehydration. Four days later, he was first transferred to Ħal Far’s reception centre, known as China House, and then to Ħal Safi’s detention centre.
Upon arrival, Fona said he was 15, but was registered as an “adult male”. A representative from the Superintendence of Public Health said Fona and others from a “red zone” who lacked health documents were issued a movement restriction order.
On December 26, Fona was medically cleared. Despite this, he continued to be held at the detention centre. The court noted that, for him to remain in detention, the Principal Immigration Officer (PIO) would have had to issue a detention order, which never occurred.
During his detention, Fona said he received only one change of clothes and lived in a damp, cold, and poorly ventilated environment with limited sanitation and drinking water. His lawyers added that he had no access to a phone to contact family or seek legal help.
On January 21, 2022, Fona and others asked the court to declare their detention illegal and order their release, but the request was rejected on procedural grounds.
Minutes after that court sitting ended, however, the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) ordered Fona’s release and transfer to Dar il-Liedna in Fgura, a facility for minors, after an Age Assessment Panel confirmed that he was indeed a minor.
On July 12, 2022, following the ordeal, Fona filed a case through his lawyers against the Home Affairs Ministry, the Permanent Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, the CEO of the Detention Services, the CEO of AWAS, the Superintendent of Public Health, and the state advocate.
The court initially declared that the Home Affairs Ministry is not the legal respondent in these cases, as the government is typically represented by the permanent secretary or the state advocate.
It also found that the Superintendent of Public Health was not responsible for any human rights violations, its restriction of movement order was legally justified.
The court agreed that Fona should not have been kept in detention after being medically cleared, as a PIO never issued a detention order.
The court also found that Fona was “clearly not being kept in an appropriate and dignified environment, with the safeguards that the law requires to be applied in the interest of a vulnerable person”.
Fona did not prove that he suffered any monetary loss, but the court still ordered the state advocate, representing the government, to pay non-pecuniary damages of €5,000 to the applicant.
Lawyer Neil Falzon from aditus foundation, together with lawyers from JRS Malta, represented the plaintiff.
Lawyer Miguel De Gabriele, from the State Advocate’s office, and lawyer Chris Ellul appeared for the respondents.
Correction January 15, 2026: A previous version misstated the amount of compensation awarded.