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Matthew Vella
The Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs this week faced up to allegations of ‘carelessness’ within the Refugee Appeals Board after Labour MP Gavin Gulia, Opposition spokesperson for home affairs, called for an audit of the workings of the board, in comments given to MaltaToday.
Various NGOs levelled criticism at the Board in the parliamentary social affairs committee ahead of amendments to the Refugee Act, and at a recent seminar held by Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh, in which it was alleged the Appeals Board rarely overruled decisions by the Refugee Commission refusing refugee status.
“I must make it clear from the outset that I have no evidence of misconduct by any member of the board. They are persons known for their integrity and sense of judgement,” Gulia said of the three-man board chaired by Prof. Henry Frendo, who has worked and represented the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in different continents for several years, along with former Attorney General Dr Carmelo Testa and Dr Tonio Grech.
“However I have been able to gauge a measure of carelessness as it has come to my knowledge that decisions are not backed by proper motivation and on one occasion, maybe more, there have been one-line long decisions,” Gulia told this newspaper, noting that ‘too much criticism’ had already been levelled at the Appeals Board.
Gulia wants to see a periodical audit on the workings of the Appeals Board, to be conducted by a practising Judge in order to ensure that in handing down decisions the principles of natural justice are being observed by the board.
“Decisions at Appeals Board level must be conducted with transparency and backed by sound motivation. A decision merely stating that an appeal has been refused is clearly unacceptable and inadmissable at law. Acceptance or rejection of an application must be underlined by reasons stating clearly why a particular application satisfies, or fails to satisfy, the criteria established by the Refugees Act, the UNHCR and UN Convention on Refugees, more so when one considers that Appeals Board decisions are final and cannot be challenged before any Court of Law.”
However, the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs is “more than satisfied” with the “professional work” being done by the Refugee Appeals Board and has reiterated its full confidence in it, saying it was convinced the Board takes all necessary measures to ensure the rights of appellants seeking refugee status are observed.
Spokesperson Joe Azzopardi has words of praise for the Board: “The Board is made up of very competent persons… even though the Minister has the right of appeal from a decision taken by the Refugee Commissioner, in two years this prerogative was never used, confirming his confidence in the sterling work being carried out by both the Refugee Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Board.”
The Ministry is claiming allegations of carelessness are incorrect: “Rejections by the Office of the Refugee Commissioner are always motivated, so when such decisions are upheld at the appellate stage, the Board specifically refers to the earlier decision without repeating it. When there is any new evidence worth mentioning, the Appeals Board may note it in communicating its decision. The Board reviews cases thoroughly, strictly on their individual merits, on a case-by-case basis, irrespective of the fact that Malta has the highest protection acceptance rate of one kind or another in Europe, if not the world, at 56 per cent.”
Gulia however believes an audit, in the same manner that exists with notarial acts which are visited by practising Magistrates, can help the Appeals Board gain more credibility and ward off criticism that has been made on its workings.
“I am witness to various complaints made by detainees at Ta’ Kandja and Hal-Far on the delay in processing their applications for refugee status and the lack of information on progress on their applications at Refugee Commissioner level as well as at Appeals Board level… It cannot pass unnoticed. It is high time that the matter be tackled to the satisfaction of all.”
The Ministry, which pointed out that both Government and Opposition are in agreement over the detention policy, said Malta’s acceptance rate by far outstrips other countries such as Cyprus at three per cent, or the United Kingdom, at 10 per cent. “Understandably, the percentage of appeal acceptance (UK) goes up significantly to over 40 per cent, while in Malta this tends to be stable. Armchair critics should study these figures before judging Malta’s record and jumping to conclusions,” claimed Azzopardi.
According to the latest UNHCR statistics, the UK’s total recognition rate of refugees and humanitarian cases stands at 31 percent out of 145,090 applications. The same statistics state that Malta hosts an average of 2.65 refugees for every 1,000 citizens, ranking 16 out of the main 50 countries which share the responsibility of hosting refugees, which includes Europe, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, and Canada.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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