Malta is bound by the Reception Conditions Directive and has transposed its provisions through the International Protection Act, Chapter 420 of the Laws of Malta, the Reception of Asylum Seekers Regulations, S.L. 420.06 and the Procedural Standards for Granting and Withdrawing International Protection Regulations, S.L. 420.07.

Malta transposes the recast Reception Conditions Directive through the following legislative instruments:

• the International Protection Act, Chapter 420 of the Laws of Malta,  as amended by Act No. XXXV of 2023
• the Reception of Asylum Seekers Regulations, S.L. 420.06 as amended by Legal Notice 87 of 2024
• the Procedural Standards for Granting and Withdrawing International Protection Regulations, S.L. 420.07, as amended by Legal Notice 104 of 2024.

Reception is managed at a central level. Malta operates a collective reception system. Most reception structures are state-owned or leased by the Government. A few reception centres are owned and managed by on-government entities, such as the Catholic Church and are also run by elements of the Catholic Church in agreement with the Government. Centres and facilities not run by AWAS, still fall within its overall reception system.

In Malta there is no allocation of applicants to geographical areas within the territory. AWAS is the entity responsible for determining where specific applicants are accommodated. Such decisions are normally based on the profile of the applicant, e.g. whether a minor, single woman/mother, etc.

AWAS employs around 80 persons between accommodation centre staff, social workers, welfare officers and other professionals.

In terms of Malta’s Strategy for the Reception of Asylum Seekers And Irregular Migrants which describes the policy and sets out practical steps in relation to reception, all persons entering Malta irregularly are pre-screened immediately upon arrival by the Police and Health authorities, in accordance with applicable procedures.

Initial reception processes

After a search and rescue operation at sea, the Armed Forces of Malta hand over all irregular migrants, who they may have apprehended or rescued, to the Police Immigration Section, which is responsible for the initial registration and screening of the migrants.

The Police screening process follows the following sequence:

1. Health Authorities are informed immediately of the incident and informed of the site where the boat or AFM rescue craft will be berthing in due time. In the event of an unannounced arrival, the authorities convene at the site of disembarkation. A small medical team (especially when there is information of persons needing assistance) is sent on the site of the berthing for first aid purposes;
2. Health professionals are summoned to call at the Police Immigrants Examination Area (hereafter called examination area), where the first medical tests are carried out;
3. Concurrently the Police Forensic Section is called and requested to proceed at the same area in order to take fingerprints and photographs of the persons concerned for records purposes, including for the EURODAC2 system;
4. The Police Mechanical Section is called and transport is ordered on the site of berthing depending on the amount of persons arriving;
5. The Police Mess is called in order to prepare water and snacks for the persons who will be arriving;
6. If the arrival is outside normal working hours, Immigration personnel are called to proceed to the examination area. They would be detailed to accompany the immigrants from the place the boat berths to the Police Headquarters Migrants’ Reception Area. Some remain at the reception area to prepare the examination and interviewing rooms.

The Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS), as the entity responsible for Initial Reception, is contacted by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) Control Room at the earliest possible in order to be able to identify appropriate accommodation for the migrants in question.

Actions taken at the disembarkation area

The following actions are taken once the migrants arrive at the Examination Area:

• Immigrants are immediately given a police number for identification purposes. This is in the form of a tag worn around the wrist as a form of identification until the person becomes familiar with his or her police number. This information is communicated to the Health Authorities at the earliest possible.
• Alleged unaccompanied minors, family groups with children and other manifestly vulnerable persons are the first to be processed upon arrival at the Examination Area. If they declare to be under age and are unaccompanied, immediate action is taken to inform AWAS.
• Immigrants are also searched for possible illicit objects which they may be carrying, identity documents or other documents which could be of assistance in verifying their nationality or other information. Those having a substantial amount of cash are informed, in a language that they may be reasonably supposed to understand, that the funds would be taken for safekeeping by the Police until release from the Initial Reception Centre or Detention. A receipt is handed over to the migrant concerned indicating any goods, including documents, and cash taken over for safekeeping by the Police. Detailed records shall also be kept at the Police end. Any item so taken over shall be returned to the migrant concerned immediately upon release. Moreover, any documentation so withheld by the Police shall be made accessible to a person in detention or his or her lawyer, particularly where this is required in relation to the review of detention or the determination of his or her asylum application.
• All migrants are spoken to individually by Immigration Police in a preliminary interview.

During the interview the Police:

• In the absence of travel documents, shall take the full particulars of the individual; and,
• Try to establish the modus operandi of the smuggling operation.

Moreover, the Police: 

• Hands over a booklet to the migrants, which booklet sets out the migrants’ rights and obligations. The booklet is available in English, French and Arabic; and,
• Refers the migrants to the office where fingerprints and photographs are taken.

When the above process is completed the migrants are examined by the medical team. The migrants are then given a light snack and embarked on the bus which will eventually take them at the centre identified to host them. Information on the arriving migrants is immediately provided to AWAS and the International Protection Agency, as well as other relevant authorities and organisations.

Health Procedures

Migrants would be initially screened by Port Health doctors to ascertain whether they can proceed to Police General Headquarters, or whether they are in need of urgent referral to hospital or a health centre as required, in which case an ambulance is immediately called for.

Once migrants are transferred to Police General Headquarters, Port Health and the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit (IDCU) doctors conduct a detailed clinical review of the patients concerned to attend to their immediate clinical needs. During this review, minor ailments like wounds and burns are attended to. Any cases requiring hospital investigations/admissions are referred to Mater Dei Hospital. Furthermore, symptomatic screening is conducted for Tuberculosis (TB) and physical check-ups are conducted for any evident signs of other infectious diseases (e.g. scabies, chicken pox and lung consolidation).

Screening for active TB is coordinated by the IDCU in accordance with the National TB Strategy. A digital X-ray Unit was commissioned in June 2013 utilising emergency response funds at Lyster Detention Centre enabling the screening of irregular migrants at this Facility. A pool of radiographers is available to image the irregular migrants by means of a Chest X-Ray. These are reported by radiologists at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH) and results are communicated to IDCU.

Children under the age of 11 years and pregnant women are screened by means of a Mantoux test (a screening tool for tuberculosis applied to the skin), which is conducted by Chest Unit nurses and read within 48 hours. Further investigation may be required for any suspected cases. Migrants with possible active TB are referred to the Chest Clinic or to Accident and Emergency Department for further investigation.

Children with communicable diseases requiring specialist intervention would continue being cared for by the Paediatric Infectious Diseases specialist. All irregular migrants are updated with vaccinations in accordance with the local immunisation schedule by the Immunisation Centre at Primary Care.

Children who are at high risk of TB, in accordance with the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) protocol, are assessed for HIV status and, if negative, given the BCG vaccine.

Accommodation

Initial Accommodation of newly arrived Irregular Migrants

Newly arrived irregular migrants shall be accommodated at an Initial Reception Facility, a contained environment, in order for them to be medically screened and processed by the pertinent authorities, including AWAS and Police officials. The stay of an irregular migrant at an Initial Reception Centre shall be of limited duration and in no case shall such duration extend beyond the granting of medical clearance by the Health authorities.

Detention

Those irregular migrants who do not apply for international protection, or whose application for international protection has been definitively rejected, may be detained pursuant to the Immigration Act (Cap 217) and the Common Standards and Procedures for Returning Illegally Staying Third Country Nationals Regulations, SL 217.12.

Vulnerable persons in terms of the Reception of Asylum Seekers Regulations, SL 420.06 shall not be detained after being released from the Initial Reception Facility. Such persons shall instead be immediately accommodated at Open Centres suited to their specific circumstances.

Accommodation at Open Centres

Asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection released from detention shall, if no alternative accommodation arrangements are available to them, be offered accommodation at Open Centres. Irregular migrants (i.e. persons who have not submitted an asylum application or whose applications have been definitively rejected) may also be offered accommodation at Open Centres if humanitarian considerations so require; provided that priority shall be accorded to asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection.

The objective of Open Centres is to provide accommodation to asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection until such time as they are able to settle independently in the community. The nature of such accommodation is therefore, by necessity, temporary.

Open Centres will not only accommodate asylum seekers who would have reached Malta in an irregular manner, but also asylum seekers who would have reached Malta in a regular manner, provided that Malta is the State responsible for determining their asylum applications. This includes asylum seekers formally resettled or relocated to Malta.

Other migrants, on the other hand, are provided with accommodation until such time as they can be returned to their country of origin or other arrangements have been made.

Unless there are overriding humanitarian considerations, no migrant shall be allowed to reside at an Open Centre for more than 12 months.

information not currently available.

Malta’s reception system is comprised of a mix of initial reception facilities, collective accommodation centres and other ad hoc/individual premises adapted for housing applicants with specific needs.

Unaccompanied minors are accommodated in Dar il-Liedna in Fgura. This is a facility solely for unaccompanied minors.

According to Article 11 of S.L. 420.06, the authorities responsible for the management of reception centres shall ensure that material reception conditions are available to applicants when they make their application for asylum. Applicants shall be provided with emergency health care and essential treatment of illness and serious mental disorders. Medical and other assistance shall be provided to applicants who have special reception needs, including mental health care.

The material reception conditions shall be as such as to ensure a standard of living adequate for the health of applicants and capable of ensuring their subsistence. Authorities are to ensure that this standard of living is met in the specific situation of persons who have special needs, according to law, as well as in relation to the situation of persons who are in detention.

The provision of material reception conditions and health care shall be subject to the condition that applicants do not have sufficient means to have a standard of living adequate for their health and to enable their subsistence

In terms of Article 3 of S.L. 420.07, "vulnerable persons" means persons in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, or risk of abuse or neglect, including minors, unaccompanied minors, disabled people, elderly people, pregnant women, single parents with minor children, victims of human trafficking, persons with mental disorders and persons who have been subjected to torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence

According to Article 14 of S.L. 420.06, the implementation of the provisions relating to material reception conditions and health care, including mental health, account shall be taken of the specific situation of vulnerable persons who shall include minors, unaccompanied minors, disabled people, elderly people, pregnant women, single parents with minor children, victims of human trafficking, persons with serious illnesses, persons with mental disorders and persons who have been subjected to torture, rape or other serious forms or psychological, physical or sexual violence, such as victims of female genital mutilation, found to have special needs after an individual evaluation of their situation:

• the entity for the welfare of asylum seekers shall assess in conjunction with other authorities as necessary, whether the applicant is an applicant with special reception needs and shall also indicate the nature of such needs. This assessment shall be initiated within a reasonable period of time after an application for international protection has been submitted.
• the entity for the welfare of asylum seekers shall also ensure that support is being provided to applicants with special reception needs, taking into account their special reception needs throughout the duration of the asylum procedure, whilst conducting appropriate monitoring of their situation.
• Minors who have been victims of any form of abuse, neglect, exploitation, torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or who have suffered from armed conflicts shall be given access to pertinent rehabilitation services in terms of the Victims of Crime Act, further to being provided with the required mental healthcare. For the purposes of this provision an evaluation by the entity responsible for the welfare of asylum seekers, carried out in conjunction with other authorities as necessary shall be conducted as soon as practicably possible:
  • Provided that applicants identified as minors shall not be detained, except as a measure of last resort:
  • Provided further that applicants who claim to be minors shall not be detained, except as a measure of last resort, unless the claim is evidently and manifestly unfounded.

Whenever the vulnerability of an applicant becomes apparent at a later stage, assistance and support shall be provided from that point onwards, pursuant to a reassessment of the case.

UAMs have access to the education system under similar conditions as Maltese nationals, as long as an expulsion measure against them or their parents is not actually enforced. 

In practice, rarely UAMs living in reception facilities attend school. Most of the time they attend either short courses or there are also those who attend a full year course at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. Most of the UAMs, of 16 years or older, prefer to look for employment.  

UAMs over 16 liaise with various institutions such as Jobsplus and Adult Education Division to identify courses or vocational training of interest. The Office of the Children and Young Person partly funds attendance in such courses.

Minor children of applicants and applicants who are minors have access to the education system under similar conditions as Maltese nationals, as long as an expulsion measure against them or their parents is not actually enforced. 

Access to education may only be postponed for up to 3 months from the date of submission of the asylum application. This 3-month period may be extended to 1 year “where specific education is provided in order to facilitate access to the education system”. 

Practical challenges include lack of information about educational background prior to arrival; and difficulties in communication and understanding classroom discussion. 

Information is currently not available.

Article 11(5) of S.L. 420.06 states that where applicants have sufficient resources, or if they have been working for a reasonable period of time, applicants may be required to cover or contribute to the cost of the material reception conditions and of the health care. If it transpires that an applicant had sufficient means to cover material reception conditions and health care at the time when these basic needs were being covered, the asylum seeker may be asked for a refund.

Information is currently not available

Material reception conditions can be reduced or withdrawn if an applicant abandons the assigned place of residence. In practice, this occurs often. In addition, material reception conditions may be reduced or withdrawn if an applicant does not comply with reporting duties or with requests to provide information, or if s/he fails to appear for the personal interview concerning the asylum procedure (relatively often). Such reduction or withdrawal may also occur if an applicant, for no justifiable reason, does not lodge an application for international protection as soon as reasonably practicable after arrival in Malta (rarely). It may also occur in case an applicant has concealed financial resources. Finally, material reception conditions are occasionally reduced or withdrawn in cases of serious breaches of the rules of the accommodation centres, as well as serious violent behaviour. It should be noted that reduction is very rarely applicable.

Legislation provides for the possibility that applicants with sufficient means contribute to the cost of the material reception conditions. No specific indication is provided as to the level of personal resources that is deemed as ‘sufficient means’ neither as to how this is determined and by whom. This provision is not applied in practice.

Withdrawal of material reception conditions comes through a decision made by the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers. The circumstances of withdrawal are outlined in the ‘Framework of service provision’ document signed by AWAS and each applicant in receipt of AWAS services. A system of written warnings is used. The third warning leads to withdrawal. In extremely serious cases, withdrawal may be immediate. All decisions are provided in writing. The decision is made by the CEO and/or operations director.

Applicants can request that AWAS review the decision to reduce or withdraw material reception conditions. Ex officio review of the decision by AWAS is possible in exceptional circumstances, usually related to the vulnerability of the applicant, the lack of alternative services available to the applicant, and other reasons on a case-by-case basis. Finally, the decision for the withdrawal of material reception conditions may be appealed at the Immigration Appeals Board within 7 days.