Malta

Overlooking the situation in Malta, everything looks very good, but looking deeper in the reports, a lot of problems come up, especially regarding the integration and inclusion of children facing discrimination. But Children’s rights are now included in the nomenclature of the new ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity, which is a good step towards awareness in the population.

Child marriage and female genital mutilation are prevalent among migrant communities and remain underreported. Between 39 per cent and 57 per cent of 486 girls originating from countries where female genital mutilation is practiced are reported to be at risk of female genital mutilation. Regardless of this, the Committee recommends to decriminalize abortion in all circumstances and ensure access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services for adolescent girls, making sure that their views are always heard and given due consideration as part of the decision-making process.

The Committee recommends to strengthen the implementation of the Policy on Inclusive Education in Schools, with specific measures to ensure that students with disabilities, including students with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, are provided with reasonable accommodation, and train specialized teachers and professionals to provide individual support and all due attention to children with learning difficulties.

The Committee recommends to develop and implement a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents, to ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum, to ensure that it is targeted at both adolescent girls and boys and to ensure that adequate sexual and reproductive health services are available for adolescents, in particular access to modern contraception methods.

The Committee recommends to ensure that for children who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or attention deficit disorder prescribing drugs is used as a measure of last resort and only after an individualized assessment of the best interests of the child concerned, and that children and their parents are properly informed about the possible side effects of this medical treatment and about non-medical alternatives.

Malta should expedite the implementation of plans to reduce air pollution levels.

The Committee is concerned about the lack of information on measures taken to implement its previous recommendations concerning children’s rights in the business sector.
The Committee recommends that Malta strengthens its international cooperation against sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism through multilateral, regional and bilateral arrangements for its prevention and elimination and to establish monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of such abuses.

Malta has the possibility of placing asylum-seeking and refugee children in detention as a measure of last resort and of placing unaccompanied children aged 16 years or over in accommodation centres for adult asylum seekers. Therefore, the Committee recommends to prohibit the immigration in law and ensure that such legal prohibition is implemented in practice, and ensure effective alternatives to detention.
Children who allegedly hijacked the vessel that had rescued them off the coast of Libya in March 2019 are being charged with terrorism.

The Committee welcomes the amendments to the Embryo Protection Act that provide for the right of children born through assisted reproduction technologies to have access to information about their origins. The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts to ensure that children born through assisted reproduction technologies have their best interests taken as a primary consideration and that, in doing so, it considers providing parents with appropriate counselling and support.
The Committee recommends to remove all exceptions that allow marriage and entering into a civil union under the age of 18 years.