Immigrants in violent disturbance at Ta' Kandja

A serious disturbance broke out at Ta' Kandja detention centre yesterday afternoon as illegal immigrants demanding to be allowed out of Malta turned violent and police had to fire rubber bullets.

Police said two of the immigrants were hit and slightly injured.

Police sources said a policeman was also slightly injured in the incidents, which involved some 70 immigrants mainly from Eritrea and Ethopia.

In a statement last night, police said that on Wednesday immigrants at Ta' Kandja started a hunger strike in protest against police authorities.

Police said the immigrants have refused to apply for refugee status in Malta, but want to do so in Europe and Canada, where, they allege, they have relatives.

The immigrants are asking for a boat in order to continue on their journey, arguing that it was never their wish to land in Malta.

The protests continued yesterday, when Charles Buttigieg, Commissioner for Refugees, spent several hours with them explaining the procedures that must be followed in cases like theirs.

At about 4.30 p.m. however, the immigrants started to become violent towards the officers on duty, police said.

They broke windows and doors of their dormitories, smashed glass panes and neon lights, and threw objects at policemen trying to maintain order.

They also barred gates using metal from their beds.

At one point some of the immigrants threw themselves against one of the complex gates in an attempt to force it open.

Police had to fire warning shots using plastic bullets. They hit two of the immigrants, who were taken to hospital with slight injuries and released after treatment.

Police said the situation then calmed down, and the immigrants themselves removed the barricades. By 7 p.m. things were back to normal.

The Police Commissioner, who was seen at the scene with other top police officers, ordered an internal inquiry, as is the normal procedure in cases like this, police said.

There are more than 500 illegal immigrants being held on the island at present, stretching resources to the limit.

Some 49 Iraqis and Egyptians were recently rounded up in Mellieha after they allegedly left Turkey four days earlier.

On July 25 about 250 illegal immigrants were rescued by the Armed Forces from a sinking boat after leaving Libya for Italy.

And many of the 208 illegal immigrants who drifted into Xlendi Bay last March are still in Malta.

The illegal immigrants are being held at Ta' Kandja, the AFM premises in Kirkop, and the Hal Far reception centre.

The government has set up a committee to deal with the sharp rise in the number of illegal immigrants in the country.