Ordered to leave open centre, migrants sleep in the street

Two Somali women accompanied by their young children are sleeping on the streets and male compatriots are at risk of becoming homeless after they received a letter evicting them from the Marsa open centre.

Sitting on a bench in the shade, holding her one-year-old daughter, immigrant Hodan Yusuf Omar said she had to sleep in a public garden in Hal Far because she was asked to leave.

Cradling the sleeping baby, she explained that, for the past year, she lived in a tent in Hal Far. However, four months ago, she received a letter from the coordinator of the Organisation for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers (OIWAS) informing her she had to leave the tent because her time was up. Until last night, questions sent to OIWAS director Alex Tortell to establish whether this was government policy, who made the decision and how many have been or were about to be evicted remained unanswered.

Peace Lab founder Fr Dionysius Mintoff expressed concern about the situation and said when contacted he had taken in two families who were evicted from open centres but did not have space to extend the hospitality to others.

Through an interpreter, Ms Yusuf Omar, 23, and Zarah Houssein Apti said they knew of another 12 single mothers who had received the same letter.

Every now and again, the women either used their headscarves to wipe the tears that rolled down their face or simply covered their faces until they calmed down.

However, half-way through her story, Ms Houssein Apti broke down and started sobbing, much to the alarm of her son Abbas, five.

Panicking because he saw his mother upset, he jumped up and covered his mother's eyes with his hands trying to stop the flow of tears while speaking rapidly in Somali.

Quickly composing herself, she spoke a few soothing words to her son who calmed down. Reassured, he sat down next to her, while still keeping a close eye on his mother.

She explained she was asked to leave tent city in Hal Far three days ago. "We can't change, we can't wash - we have nowhere to go," she said, pulling at her clothes in disgust.

Ms Yusuf Omar said they were shocked when they received the letter around four months ago.

"We were threatened not to speak to anyone about it, not to the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Emigrants' Commission or journalists," the interpreter explained.

Both women are single mothers, without a job and have two little mouths to feed. Now that they no longer live at tent city, they do not receive the daily allowance of €4.66.

Both women claimed they had to sign a one-year contract before they moved in against the threat that they would not receive the allowance. The contract was in English and said that they had to move out after a year. However, they both said that the contents of the contract were not explained to them, not even through an interpreter.

Kadar Adem Amir, 29, who was acting as an interpreter, said he had also received the letter. Together with another 15 Somali men watching anxiously as he explained their situation, Mr Adem Amir said they were told they had to leave the Marsa open centre by July 1.

"We are ready to sleep in the streets of Valletta. We have nowhere to go and we don't know where we can go," he said.

The men claimed they went to different refugee organisations for help but found closed doors. "They told us that it was government policy, that these were the new rules," he said.