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Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday preferred to look at the positive side of things, pointing out Malta’s high rate of refugee acceptance rather than addressing the serious allegations that surfaced this week over the horrendous torture of Eritrean asylum seekers that were deported back to their country in 2002 by the Maltese government.
The allegations made in a report published by Amnesty International do not seem to have perturbed the Prime Minister who brushed aside a question by MaltaToday.
Gonzi yesterday defended government’s position by claiming that the United Nations agency for refugees in 2002 had declared Eritrea a safe place.
This newspaper asked Gonzi whether he believed the PN government showed solidarity with the Eritreans in 2002 when contrary to advice from Caritas Italy, it went ahead with the deportation.
Gonzi’s statement jarred with what the UN agency told The Times yesterday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it never took a position regarding the safety of a country of origin such as Eritrea.
The UN agency was also quoted as saying the deportation could have been “premature.”
A similar defence plea was made earlier this week by Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, who was responsible for the deportation of 220 Eritreans in September 2002.
A report issued on Wednesday by human rights organisation Amnesty International claimed that some of the Eritreans deported from Malta were among those that faced torture on their return. The torture techniques described in the report are horrendous.
A spokesman for Tonio Borg had told The Times the minister had no time to comment on the Amnesty report when contacted on Wednesday. Borg eventually talked to the newspaper on Thursday.
Labour spokesperson Gavin Gulia yesterday also called for a “clean, transparent investigation into the deportation process of the Eritrean immigrants,” warning that it would be “politically damning” to pretend “nothing worth noting has indeed been revealed.”
Meanwhile, in a press statement issued by the Department of Information late yesterday, the Home Affairs Ministry insisted that despite being informed by the Maltese government of the deportations in 2002, the UNHCR never objected to the repatriation.
The ministry also stated that two years ago government had no information that the return of the Eritrean immigrants was a danger to their lives.
“The fact that the allegations made to Amnesty International about torture were only made by four deportees from 220, confirms how correct the Maltese government’s decision was at the time,” the statement reads.
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