According to the Aditus Foundation,“The Ħal Far Initial Reception Centre (HIRC), commonly referred to as ‘China House’, reopened in March 2020 in order to cope with the large number of migrant arrivals and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is located in Ħal Far and used mainly to detain newly-arrived asylum-seekers until they are medically cleared by the Health Authorities. In 2023, applicants were kept at China House despite having been medically cleared.”

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) reported in 2020 that 'living conditions [at Hal Far] may well amount to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights."Comprised of "three zones (A, B and C) in a two-storey building, the CPT found that dormitories in Zones A and C measured 21m2 each and were equipped with six sets of bunk beds (i.e. 12 beds); dormitories of such a size should not accommodate more than five persons. Not all of the rooms had access to adequate natural light and sufficient artificial lighting and ventilation Some of the bathrooms had no doors and, at the time of the delegation’s visit, some of the showers and wash basins were blocked in Zones C and B and flooded the bathroom floors when used, which had allegedly caused some migrants to slip and injure themselves. ... There was no regime of activities in China House. Many of the detained migrants underlined that they had no access any purposeful activities, no television, no access to the telephone, and were not offered access to the single exercise yard. Migrants spent 24 hours per day locked on their units with nothing to structure their days for months on end."