B 4017
L.N. 487 of 2021
INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION ACT
(CAP. 420)
Reception of Asylum Seekers (Amendment) Regulations, 2021
IN EXERCISE of the powers c onferred by article 25 of the
International Protection Act, the Minister for Home Affairs, Na tional
Security and Law Enforcement has made the following regulations :-
Citation and 
scope. 
S.L. 420.06.1. (1) The title of these regulations is the Reception of
Asylum Seekers (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 and these
regulations shall be read and c onstrued as one with the Recepti on of
Asylum Seekers Regulations, hereinafter referred to as "the pri ncipal
regulations".
(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose:
(a) Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for
granting and withdrawing international protection (recast);
(b) Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for thequalification of third-country na tionals or stateless persons a s
beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status  for
refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and  for
the content of the protection granted (recast); and 
(c) Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 26 June 2013 laying down standards for th e
reception of applicants for international protection (recast).
Amends 
regulation 1 of 
the principal regulations: 2. Sub-regulation (2) of regul ation 1 of the principal
regulations shall be substituted by the following new sub-regul ation:
"(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose: 
(a) Directive 2013/32/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on
common procedures for gra nting and withdrawing
international protection (recast);
Verżjoni Elettronika
B 4018
Amends 
regulation 6 of 
the principal regulations.3.  Regulation 6 of the principal  regulations shall be amended
as follows:
(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be amended as
follows:
(i) the words "The Principal Immigration Officer
may, without prejudice to any other law, order the detention
of an applicant for one or more of these reasons, pursuant
to an assessment of the case:" shall be substituted by thewords "Without prejudice to a ny other law, the Principal
Immigration Officer may, when it proves necessary and ifother less coercive measures c annot be applied effectively,
order the detention of an applicant for one or more of these
reasons, pursuant to an individual assessment of the case:";
and
(ii) in paragraph (f) thereof, the words "stateless
person." shall be substituted by the words "statelessperson:" and immediately ther eafter there shall be added
the following new proviso:
"Provided that administrative procedures
relevant to the grounds for detention set out in this
regulation shall be executed with due diligence."; and
(b) immediately after sub-re gulation (8) thereof there
shall be added the follo wing new sub-regulation:
"(9) An applicant shall not be detained for the sole
reason that he is an applicant for international protection.".(b) Directive 2011/95/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 13 December
2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as
beneficiaries of interna tional protection, for a
uniform status for refugees or for persons eligiblefor subsidiary protection, and for the content of the
protection granted (recast);
(c) Directive 2013/33/EU of the European
Parliament and of the C ouncil of 26 June 2013
laying down standards for the reception ofapplicants for international protection (recast).".
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B 4019
Amends 
regulation 6A of 
the principal regulations.4. Regulation 6A of the prin cipal regulations shall be
amended as follows:
(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be substituted by the
following new sub-regulation:
"(1) Whenever an applicant is detained in
accordance with regulation 6,  he shall be detained in a
specialised detention facility, which facility shall not be
utilised as a place of detention for sentenced persons. In theeventuality that an applicant has to be detained in a facility
for the detention of sentenced persons he shall be kept
separate from inmates who are not detained pursuant toregulation 6 and the detention conditions provided for in
these regulations shall apply:
Provided that minors shal l never be detained in
a facility utilised as a place of detention for sentencedpersons."; and
(b) sub-regulation (6) thereof shall be substituted by the
following new sub-regulation:
Amends 
regulation 10 of 
the principal 
regulations.5. Immediately after sub-regulat ion (3) of regulation 10 of the
principal regulations there shall be added the following new su b-
regulation:
"(4) An applicant may have access to vocational training
provided that he has access to the labour market within the
meaning of this regulation.An a pplicant may also have access to
a validation procedure of non- formal and informal learning,
assessing and certifying the knowledge, skills and competences"(6) The management of specialised detention
facilities or facilities for  the detention of sentenced
persons shall systematically  provide to applicants in
detention information concerni ng the rules of the facility,
their rights and their obligations in a language in which
they understand or are reasonably supposed to
understand:
Provided that temporary derogations under
this regulation may be authorised only in duly justified
cases and for a reasonably short period of time, in theevent that the applicant is det ained at a border post or in a
transit zone.
".
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B 4020
which individuals develop throughout their lives by means of
participation in non-formal and informal learning.".
Amends 
regulation 14 of the principal 
regulations.6. Sub-regulation (1) of regulation 14 of the principal
regulations shall be substituted by the following new sub-regulation:
"(1) (a)  In the implementation of the provisions
relating to material reception conditions and health care,
including mental health, account shall be taken of the
specific situation of vulnerab le persons who shall include
minors, unaccompanied minors, disabled people, elderly
people, pregnant women, single parents with minor
children, victims of human trafficking, persons withserious illnesses, persons with mental disorders and
persons who have been subjected  to torture, rape or other
serious forms or psychological, physical or sexual
violence, such as victims of female genital mutilation,
found to have special needs af ter an individual evaluation
of their situation:
For the purposes of this regulation, the entity
for the welfare of asylum seekers shall assess in
conjunction with other authorities as necessary, whether
the applicant is an applicant with special reception needs
and shall also indicate the nature of such needs. Thisassessment shall be initiated within a reasonable period
of time after an application for international protection
has been lodged.
(b) The entity for the welfare of asylum seekers
shall also ensure that support is being provided to
applicants with special reception needs, taking into
account their special reception needs throughout the
duration of the asylum procedure, whilst conductingappropriate monitoring of their situation.
Cap. 539.(c) Minors who have been victims of any form of
abuse, neglect, exploitation, torture or cruel, inhumanand degrading treatment o r who have suffered from
armed conflicts shall be given access to pertinent
rehabilitation services in terms of the Victims of Crime
Act, further to being provided with the required mentalhealth care. 
For the purposes of this provision an evaluation by
the entity responsible for the welfare of asylum seekers,
carried out in conjunction with other authorities as
necessary shall be conduc ted as soon as practicably
possible:
Verżjoni Elettronika
B 4021
Substitutes 
regulation 15 of the principal 
regulations.7. Regulation 15 of the principal regulations shall be
substituted by the f.ol lowing new regulation:Provided that applicants  identified as minors
shall not be detained, except as a measure of last resort:
Provided further that applicants who claim to
be minors shall not be detained, except as a measure of
last resort, unless the clai m is evidently and manifestly
unfounded.".
S.L. 420.07." 1 5 . ( 1 )  T h e  e n t i t y  f o r  t h e  w e l f a r e  o f
asylum seekers shall as soon as possible takemeasures to ensure that the unaccompaniedminor is represented and assisted by a
representative and the provisions of regulation
18 of the Procedural Standards for Granting andWithdrawing International Protection
Regulations regarding unaccompanied minors
shall apply.
S.L. 420.07.(2) An unaccompanied minor shall be
accommodated in centres specialised inaccommodation for minors in accordance with
the provisions of regulat ion 18 of the Procedural
Standards for Granting and Withdrawing
International Protection Regulations.
(3) An unaccompanied minor aged
sixteen years or over may be placed in
accommodation centres for adult asylum seeker.
(4) The entity for the welfare of asylum
seekers shall proceed with the tracing of the
family members of the unaccompanied minor, ifnecessary with the assistance of international or
other relevant organisations and as soon as
possible after an application for international
protection is made, whi lst acting in the best
interests of the minor:
Provided that, in cases where there
may be a threat to the life or integrity of the
minor or his close relative s, particularly if they
have remained in the country of origin, caremust be taken to ensure that the collection,processing and circulation of information
concerning those persons is undertaken on a
confidential basis, so as to avoid jeopardisingtheir safety. 
Verżjoni Elettronika
B 4022
(5) The entity for the welfare of asylum
seekers shall ensure that persons working with
unaccompanied minors have received and shall
continue to receive appropriate training
concerning their needs, and shall be bound bythe confidentiality rules in relation to any
information they obtain in the course of their
work.".
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