Valletta, Malta - International relief agency Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) on Friday said it had suspended its work at migrant detention centres in Malta, to protest the "unhygienic, inhuman and alarming" conditions there.

MSF's announcement came just hours ahead of the European Union's top justice official Jacques Barrot's visit to review conditions faced by would-be immigrants on the Mediterranean island.

MSF was unable to effectively carry out its medical humanitarian work inside the overcrowded immigrant detention centres which house some 2,000 people, mostly from Africa, agency officials told reporters in Valetta.

"Once they get sick, detainees have little access to care, efficient supply of medicines or proper follow-up of more severe illnesses," MSF doctor Gabriella Ferlazzo Natoli, said.

Detainees faced several health problems including skin infections, which were the result of the harsh journeys to reach Malta and could be exacerbated by the tough living conditions in the detention centres, MSF said.

MSF said it had monitored over a period of five months, 60 would-be immigrants who had arrived in the centres in good health.

The agency said it subsequently diagnosed 65 cases of disease, such as scabies, and noted how people who contracted chicken pox were not segregated, leading to a spread of the disease in the centres.

Since it began operating in Malta in August 2008, MSF officials said they had witnessed men, women and children sharing the same living areas, overcrowding and "deplorable" sanitation.

Malta's Home Affairs Ministry expressed surprise at MSF's decision to halt its work in the detention centres.

"It is difficult to understand why the organisation chose to terminate the commitment it undertook six months ago instead of continuing its valuable work to improve the detention facilities," a ministry statement said.

The news of MSF's withdrawal comes at a time when the island nation is grappling with the arrival of over 600 would-be immigrants since the beginning of January - an unprecedented sure for the winter season. (dpa)