Government & Politics
More detention officers needed for illegal immigrants
By MaltaMedia News
May 12, 2006, 09:03

The government has issued a call for casual detention officers to handle the wave of illegal immigrants that hit the Maltese shores in recent months.

A press statement announced that Detention Service is in the process of recruiting a number of personnel with police, military or correctional services background.

The aim of this recruitment is to select personnel who have served in a disciplinary corps for employment as Casual Detention Service Officers.

The Detention Service requires up to 50 personnel with the right experience. Primarily, they will be assigned security duties at closed accommodation centres, housing irregular immigrants. Such duties will involve physical security of compounds within closed accommodation centres, close escort of irregular immigrants from centres to hospitals and other locations, distribution of meals to irregular immigrants as well as dealing with visitors to accommodation centres.
Personnel who meet the criteria as laid out in the call for applications published in the Government Gazzette of 21 April 2006, will be required to sit for an interview after which they will be informed of their suitability or otherwise for employment.

Selected personnel will be given a short period of intensive training on the duties and responsibilities of Detention Service Officers. Other subjects covered during training include laws, regulations and policies governing the custody of irregular immigrants, Standing Operating Procedures and medical situation awareness.

Malta’s detention policy has been criticised by international organisations such as Amnesty International, the Council of Europe and recently by members of the European Parliament.

However the Maltese government insists that detention is needed for the security of the country which saw over 5,600 illegal immigrants hitting the Maltese shores in the last four years. Of these only around 160 were granted refugee status.

Conditions at detention centres sparked various protests by illegal immigrants in detention in recent months.

Read more about this issue on MaltaMedia's special feature:
Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations.

See also:
Immigrants in Court over protest
by MaltaMedia News - May 10, 2006, 10:07



© Copyright 2006 - MaltaMedia Online Network

EXIT PRINTER FRIENDLY VIEW FOR THIS ARTICLE