The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has expressed concern over the "dire" situation the migrants are facing at sea and upon their arrival in Europe.
In a statement on its official website on Friday, the UN organization said that those rescued and disembarked on European shores frequently face risks of arbitrary detention, in conditions that may also amount to ill-treatment, warning that the situation has grown critical in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The call of the UN Human Rights office comes after the visit conducted by the panel of experts sent to Malta on September 21, to assess the disembarking points at the other side of the Mediterranean.
It indicated that its team on the ground has spoken during their one-week-long mission to government officials, UN partners, migrant community leaders, civil society organizations, as well as migrants
from 25 different nationalities, including women and children.
Some migrants reported that they were kept for several months in places that have little access to daylight, clean water, and sanitation, let alone the limited contact with the outside world, including lawyers and civil society organizations.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called for urgent action to address the situation, stressing that was is happening to migrants in Malta and elsewhere in Europe is the result of a failed system of migration governance.
"I urge the European Union and its Member States to ensure its Pact on Migration and Asylum addresses these challenges head-on and results in a truly-common and principled approach that ensures the respect and protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees," Bachelet said.
