Tunisian migrants erupt into protest

Tens of Tunisian migrants organised a chaotic protest at Lyster Barracks in Ħal Far yesterday morning - putting pressure on the Tunisian authorities to sort out their deportation papers as soon as possible.

The uproar began when some mattresses were set alight, causing the authorities to deploy a fire engine and send soldiers and policemen to the scene.

A large group of police fanned out around the perimeter of metal-meshed fences since there were fears that some migrants might have escaped.

However, unlike in recent incidents at the detention centres, it turned out not to be the case this time.

When the media's cameras arrived, things took a turn for the worse and the Tunisians huddled together on the third floor of the barracks, squashed like sardines by the windows.

Eventually they started to smash the window panes and dangle out by means of bed sheets they tied together.

They chanted what sounded like patriotic songs and held up sheets with messages written on them - among these was one saying "Viv Tunisi".

Although some were laughing and smiling, others used cloth to cover their mouths and pulled up their middle fingers at the cameras. Some even started to throw their belongings out of the window, including bars of soap and cans of shaving foam.

According to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, the migrants causing the trouble were the 71 Tunisians who arrived on February 1 on a boat carrying 262 migrants.

A spokesman for the ministry told the press that the Tunisians had originally hoped to go to Italy. Instead they were detained in Malta and told that they would soon be deported.

When asked why they were protesting, the spokesman said that it was because they wanted to leave but were being held in detention until the Tunisian authorities sorted out their documents for repatriation to be possible.

Knowing they would anyway be leaving shortly, they had no qualms about burning their mattresses and tearing up their sheets, the spokesman added.

On the other hand, some other protesting migrants in the detention centre - many of them coming from sub-Saharan African countries like Somalia, steered clear from damaging any of their belongings.

At first, a group of African women gathered in the yard outside the barracks and chanted back to the Tunisians. The women seemed to be jokingly taunting the Tunisian men but when they noticed that windows were being smashed they moved away and let the Tunisian men continue chanting alone.

Eventually the press was asked to leave so that the situation could calm down and it is believed that things were brought under control soon afterwards.

This is the latest in a series of "disturbances" caused by immigrants due to imminent deportations and an increase in off-peak arrivals.

On Wednesday, 227 healthy looking illegal migrants arrived in Birżebbuġa claiming to be from Somalia. This, together with the arrival of 262 migrants on February 1, marked the beginning of a possible trend of large-boat arrivals during the off-peak winter season.

Malta is not the only country dealing with unrest because of immigrants.

Yesterday it was reported that a number of illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers set fire to part of their detention centre on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa after a failed escape attempt.

Meanwhile Labour Party Home Affairs spokesman Michael Falzon in a statement yesterday reiterated a call for more discussion and more seriousness to be shown by the government on immigration - echoing Labour leader Joseph Muscat's plea to have an urgent parliamentary debate on the matter.

"The Labour Party cannot but express its concern and the concern of the people over the growing problem of illegal immigration. The latest arrival of 230 illegal migrants, at the height of winter, cannot but raise serious concerns over how this problem may grow in the coming months, especially in the summer," Dr Falzon said.

Promising that the PL would remain the people's voice on this issue, he said the government was not showing sufficient commitment to tackle the problem.

In a reply, the Justice Ministry said the government had no problem discussing the immigration problem in Parliament and reminded the Labour Party that the subject had been brought up several times through parliamentary questions.

The government was working to obtain more EU funds for repatriation programmes and the ministry reminded the Labour Party that 35 Egyptians were sent home this week while others will be sent in the near future.

The ministry said that there are indications that the French government will accept around 80 people who have international protection, thanks to a special agreement with the UNHCR and the EU member states.

Another statement was sent by the political group Azzjoni Nazzjonali which said that in view of the increasing numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in winter, creating an increasingly difficult situation for the authorities to handle and control, the government should immediately suspend Malta's obligations under the UNHCR Refugees Convention and the Dublin II Treaty.

The party said the government should refuse to take in any more illegal immigrants.

Those that do manage to land should be given safe means to carry on with their journey.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com