Illegal migrants in coordinated protests

Illegal immigrants at the three detention centres in Hal Far, Safi and the police headquarters in Floriana staged what appeared to be a coordinated protest, yesterday.

Immigrants at Hal Far and Safi detention centres tore down the wire fence at their compound but rather than to escape, their intention seemed to be to hold a demonstration to highlight their situation.

Throughout their protest they insisted they wanted freedom.

At Safi, the immigrants agreed to return to the detention centre at about 4 p.m. only after a small group representing them were allowed to speak to the media.

No incidents were reported during the disturbances.

When contacted yesterday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that from the information he had at that moment in time, all the forces responsible for maintaining order handled the situation well and in a professional manner.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said in Parliament last night that the irregular immigrants protested because they did not want to remain in detention. They wanted to be freed to go to Italy.

This was not acceptable and the country's laws, even though they were tough, had to be applied.

He said a large number of people - there were 1,200 detainees - had rushed the fence of their closed centre and went out. The army could not control the situation without the use of weapons, which it rightly decided not to use.

The police immediately went to help and together with the army returned all migrants to their units.

The minister said the present number of detainees was the highest ever.

He said he was convinced the army would do its utmost to control the problem in future but it was better to use caution rather than excessive force to prevent escapes.

Dr Borg was replying to questions by Labour MP Joe Mizzi.

Two immigrants who escaped during the confusion at Safi in the morning were rounded up by the police in the neighbourhood and were returned to the centre handcuffed.

Trouble started at about 10 a.m. when about 100 immigrants at the Hal Far barracks broke down a gate along the perimeter fence and ran out in the street.

Shouting slogans in favour of freedom the immigrants started walking in the direction of Malta International Airport.

The march threw the traffic in that busy artery into chaos.

By this time police reinforcements were sent to the area to restore order.

The immigrants decided to return to the detention centre, a stretch of about five kilometres away when they reached the roundabout near the Macdonalds' outlet close to the airport.

This time the road from Luqa to Hal Far was closed to traffic until the immigrants returned to barracks. An army helicopter hovered over the area.

The protest lasted about two hours.

At about the same time, a similar number of immigrants in detention at the Safi centre escaped from their compound by pulling down part of the wire fence but stopped outside displaying banners and placards. Some sat down on the tarmac and others stood behind a strong contingent of army personnel.

One of the banners read "One-and-a-half years is too much. We need freedom". The poster was referring to the duration of detention of some of the migrants.

At one point the situation appeared to be heating up when the protestors started slowly pushing against the soldiers to approach the area where media representatives were observing developments. When food was offered to the immigrants, some threw it on the ground.

One of the immigrants was heard saying "Let the press come. We are not fighting. We want to speak to the press".

In the meantime soldiers were assigned to repair the broken fence, a task they had to temporarily abandoned as some of the immigrants started kicking the repaired part of the fence.

In the afternoon, arrangements were made by senior army officers, under the direction of Lt Col Brian Gatt, the commander of the detention centres, for a small representative group of immigrants to speak to the media on condition that the protestors return peacefully to their quarters.

"It is all about freedom. Detention is too long," Joseph Botchway, a Liberian 20-year-old asylum seeker who has been detained for eight months after landing here illegally, said.

"It should not be longer than six months," he said adding that among the detainees there were some who had been under lock and key for 18 months. "We are not criminals or murderers."

The immigrant, who said he fled his home country because of civil strife, said: "We know we are illegal immigrants but many wanted to move on to another country while some would prefer to stay here".

He suggested that those who wanted to remain here should be taught Maltese so that they would integrate with the people better once they are allowed out of the detention centres.

Mr Botchway complained about the quality of food and about what he termed as delays to get medical attention.

"Life at the detention centre is bad, not because we are maltreated by the soldiers but because of the environment we live in," he said.

Asked about reports of misbehaviour by the illegal immigrants towards the soldiers, Mr Botchway denied this, but he acknowledged there was once an incident when one of the detainees threw hot milk at the soldier offering it to him.

At the police headquarters detention centre in Floriana the immigrants held a noisy protest in the afternoon shouting slogans in favour of freedom and displaying a banner explaining why they were illegal immigrants. The protest lasted slightly less than an hour.

The immigrants at Lyster Barracks were addressed by army officials, the Refugee Commissioner and Mgr Philip Calleja.

On Monday of last week some of the asylum seekers living in tents at the Hal Far detention centre staged a protest to complain about what they called their dire situation.

They claimed they were being treated like "animals", that they were being fed nothing but macaroni and that their sanitary conditions left a lot to be desired.

Army sources said such protests had become a fairly common occurrence.

The asylum seekers called on the Commissioner for Refugees to visit the detention centre to hear about their problems.