UN group still sees concerns in Malta's treatment of migrants

Conditions for migrants on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta have improved but still fall well below international standards, a UN group said Thursday.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said it was particularly concerned with the migrants' lack of access to legal aid and lack of awareness about their status.

The UN group visited Malta this week, following up on a report it had compiled in 2009 specifically on the detention of migrants.

The situation then was by far worse than it is now, when only a few migrants remain in detention.

Migrant arrivals in Malta has dropped drastically in recent years. Instead, the bulk of migrants who set off from Africa land on the Italian island of Lampedusa or are rescued by Italian coastguards and taken to the mainland.

Human rights expert Setondji Roland Adjovi said the UN group was pleased with Malta's work in acting on 13 recommendations it made in 2009 on the detention of migrants as well as criminal and juvenile justice.

"We are happy to see that the government effectively followed up the recommendations and made legislative changes to improve the situation," he told a press conference in Valletta.

However, he said the group was still "concerned" that migrants in detention were unclear on their status and that cases of migrants who appeal against their status were not dealt with fast enough.

He said the group was also concerned about the lack of jobs on the island,making it difficult for them to integrate in Maltese society.

While the working group was satisfied that there had been considerable improvement in the conditions at the closed detention centre, he said conditions at another centre were still "well below international standards".