Treatment of migrants under EU scrutiny

The European Commission is examining whether Malta and other countries are applying the terms of an EU directive which lays down that asylum seekers must be offered an adequate standard of living and their needs should be seen to.

This information was given by EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini in reply to a parliamentary question by Green MEP Helene Flautre, tabled on the initiative of Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika's spokesman on EU Affairs.

Mr Frattini said detention conditions of asylum seekers are regulated by EU Council directive 2003/9/CE which establishes minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers. Member states had until February 6 of this year to transpose the directive.

Mr Frattini said the EU Commission was closely following the evolution of events on matters concerning asylum and immigration in all EU member states.

He said the Commission was aware of the incidents that took place at the Safi Barracks in January. The Maltese authorities, he said, have informed the Commission that the Prime Minister ordered an independent inquiry into the incident.

In the incident, a number of asylum seekers detained at the barracks were injured when the army intervened during a demonstration.

Prof. Cassola said the quicker the EU established the concept of burden sharing among all 25 EU member states, the better for all, because external border states like Malta could not shoulder the financial and human resources commitment on its own.

In this respect, Alternattiva Demokratika welcomed the Commission's proposal that recommends the opening of practical collaboration and political dialogue with Libya with regard to migration issues.