Byron Camilleri has ruled out building any new centres for migrants and asylum seekers despite a Council of Europe torture committee report that blasted the poor conditions of severely overcrowded detention centres.

The home affairs minister insisted that there has been "enormous progress" and "substantial investment" in the centres that house people who arrive in Malta after being rescued at sea. 

Last week the Council of Europe committee, which visited various facilities in Malta last year, accused the government of "institutional mass neglect" and breaking international law. 

Its report following the September 2020 visit highlighted a chaotic situation and said the system was struggling to cope with an influx of refugees and migrants determined to reach Europe from Libya.

Camilleri defended his ministry's efforts but said the number of arrivals in Malta throughout 2019 and 2020 had exceeded every other EU country per capita.

“When we said that Malta is full-up, we weren’t lying,” he said.

When asked whether the government plans on building a new detention centre facility to alleviate the pressure on the existing centres, the minister argued that the EU should intervene to help Malta “carry its burdens”.

“Our centres and the space inside them is what it is, and so is our country. I will not let our country become a hot-spot for detaining migrants,” Camilleri said.

He said the government was focussing on cooperation with the Libyan coastguard, so-called 'burden sharing' schemes with other EU countries and repatriating migrants who are in Malta illegally. 

Camilleri argued that the CPT’s visit was met with an open-door policy and cooperation from the local authorities.

When asked for a concrete timeline of when the CPT’s recommendations will be implemented, Camilleri stated that many have already been implemented and that “our country will always keep doing its part.”

Home affairs minister Byron Camilleri. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

The minister also emphasised that the fact that Malta has drawn a hard line in its stance with the EU and its refusal to open more centres does not mean that “the people arriving here shouldn’t be treated with dignity.”

“We’ve made a substantial investment in our detention centres, but at the same time we must continue insisting that other countries share our burden,” the minister said.

Camilleri was also asked whether he thinks his position as minister is still tenable given the numerous documented violations of human rights in detention centres.

“All I can say is that in the year and few months in which I’ve served as home affairs minister, there was enormous progress in these detention centres,” he added.