A/HRC/33/50/Add.1 all stages. An agency had been created to provide specialized legal aid prior to the appeal stage. 53. However, at the time of its follow-up visit, it was brought to the attention of the Working Group that, in practice, access to effective legal assistance, especially for indigent foreigners, remained very limited. The Working Group noted that persons being held at the immigration detention centre were not clearly aware of their status and rights and that their access to legal aid appeared to be very limited. 54. In this regard, the Working Group recommends that Malta make additional efforts to bring the legal aid system into compliance with international human rights standards, in terms of both resources and effectiveness. Free legal aid should be also provided for appeals before the Civil, Constitutional and European Courts, as well as for the presentation of cases before international human rights bodies. 55. In 2009, the Working Group observed that Malta was carrying a disproportionate burden and did not have the necessary financial and other resources at its disposal. The Working Group therefore appealed to the international community to assist the Government in bringing its immigration detention regime into conformity with applicable international human rights law and standards while reminding Malta of its international human rights obligations. 56. As of February 2016, 886 persons had been granted refugee status in Malta, 11,243 individuals had received subsidiary protection and 1,694 persons had been granted other forms of complementary protection.3 57. The Working Group is also concerned that European States have ignored the migration problem in the Mediterranean for too long. In 2014, European countries agreed to receive only 150 migrants from Malta, while the United States of America agreed to receive 500. According to the Maltese authorities, Malta can accept only 200 asylum seekers and refugees per year. 58. In this respect, the Working Group fully acknowledges the need for a comprehensive response at the African, European and universal levels to the challenges posed by irregular immigration worldwide. If shared responsibility in Europe were effective, it could help identify solutions and alleviate suffering. Furthermore, the Working Group calls on all countries in the vicinity, including countries in the Middle East, to accept refugees and to consider giving financial contributions if they cannot host any. Recommendations in relation to monitoring mechanisms 59. The Working Group recommended after its first visit to Malta, in 2009, that the Government strengthen the status, powers and functions of the Board of Visitors of the Prisons and the Board of Visitors for Detained Persons to provide for more effective monitoring of detention facilities, as designated national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Working Group explained that this would include the extension of their respective mandates to the aspect of legality of detention that had not been ordered by a court, including administrative detention and “detention within detention” as a form of disciplinary measure, as well as the publication of all their reports addressed to the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs. The Working Group further recommended that the Government strengthen the status, powers and functions of the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). __________________ 3 12 See www.unhcr.org.mt/charts/category/17.