Children's Commissioner Pauline Miceli has pledged to assess the welfare of child asylum seekers after academics decried the lack of protection for unaccompanied minors.
In a letter to Family and Social Welfare Minister Michael Falzon and Ms Miceli, a number of academics from the University of Malta underlined that the recent incidents at the Ħal Far detention centre posed a grave risk to the life, health and psychological wellbeing of children.
Ms Miceli shared the concerns highlighted in the letter and told Times of Malta she had met with the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) and other organisations in the past weeks.
“We will be visiting the centres accommodating unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. Following such visits, the office will be sending its recommendations to the authorities in order to ensure the wellbeing of minors,” she added.
Asylum seekers normally undergo an age assessment when they first arrive. If they are found to be minors, they are placed under a care order and sent to reside at a home where they have access to social workers and age-appropriate care.
However, due to the high number of boat arrivals and the lack of resources, minors have been falling through the cracks of the system, Maria Pisani, director of the human rights organisation Integra, had told Times of Malta.
Two boys sought refuge in a sanctuary nearby, but could not stay for longer thana night
A number of minors with care orders are being held in detention because there is nowhere to send them, she said.
Furthermore, a number of migrants who have not been recognised as minors in the open centres are stuck without a care order.
According to a spokesperson for the UNHCR, detention should only be used as a last resort and children should not be kept in detention for migration management purposes. “Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, regardless of their age, should be placed in appropriate care arrangements that cater to the best interest of the children,” he said.
On Thursday, AWAS issued a statement denying that unaccompanied minors were present at Ħal Far.
“There are no unaccompanied minors asylum seekers (UMAS) under the age of 16 formally residing at the Ħal Far tent village since AWAS abides by the EU Reception Conditions Directive. All UMAS who have been transferred to Ħal Far tent village have been age assessed by a multidisciplinary team and their age established to be 16 years and over,” the statement read.
However, Times of Malta was informed on Friday of two 15-year-old boys residing at the centre. A migrant who had taken the child asylum seekers under his wing said the boys should not be there, because they were children and it was not safe for them.
He added that the boys had desperately been trying to get out of Ħal Far because they did not feel comfortable there.
One of the boys had spent three months and six days in Safi detention before he was sent to tent village, the migrant said.
After the riots on Sunday evening, both boys sought refuge in a sanctuary nearby, but could not stay for longer than a night since space was limited.
Since the boys could not legally work, they spent their days around the camp doing nothing, he added.
Asked by Times of Malta of the boys’ whereabouts, the migrant said they got separated from their parents in their origin country from which they had to flee because of conflict.