The government yesterday inaugurated the police detention centre at Hal Far, which has been refurbished with EU funds.

The centre, which can host 120 illegal migrants, was refurbished over the past four months at a total cost of about Lm51,000 (€118,798), Police Commissioner John Rizzo said. Work was carried out by a contractor and by members of the Police Force.

The new detention centre being built at Ta' Kandja, costing Lm218,000 (€508,246) allocated by the European Union, is well on target and the construction phase is expected to be completed by the end of the year. This centre will house between 400 and 500 people.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said more was being done so that the country would be in a better position to host illegal immigrants.

Malta has already received about Lm1 million (€2.3 million) in assistance. Most of these funds were used to upgrade the Marsa open centre. Another Lm1 million have already been allocated but have not yet been handed over because the permits for the projects are still pending.

Dr Borg mentioned the new timeframes that have been put in place: A maximum detention period of 18 months for the processing of applications. There are other EU countries that have detained people for up to three years. When asked, Dr Borg refused to say which countries he was referring to. Dr Borg said the projects under way to improve the facilities for irregular migrants demonstrates the government's commitment to offer these people a decent and humane environment until their applications are processed.