Migrants at Ħal Far open centre protest over living conditions

Migrants at the Ħal Far open centre yesterday blockaded the main entrance to protest against the management, which had not acceded to their request to put up a speaker system to call Muslims to prayer.

The migrants also wanted to put a spotlight on their conditions so they blocked the gate with a skip to stop workers from entering the centre, and put up banners reading "We want freedom of religion" and "Is H.O.C. detention?" referring to the open centre.

However, Alex Tortell, director of the Organisation for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers, said if migrants wanted their problems to be solved, breaking the law was not the solution.

He said that when he went down to the centre to speak to the residents, they refused.

Abdul Qadir Delmar Mohamed, a Somali national, said the protest was organised to bring about "change" to conditions at the place and to the behaviour of a particular staff member.

One of the main reasons was religion, as reportedly residents had asked for a speaker system to be installed so that the Imam could call people to the container-cum-mosque at the centre - as early as 4.50 a.m.

Reacting to this, Mr Tortell said residents never spoke to him at length regarding prayer.

"This is an accommodation centre, and even though we're pressured to use every bed available, we gave them a container in which to pray. However, I wished that the sound of prayer did not go out of the container."

Currently, residents use a small megaphone to call the faithful to pray.

The Ħal Far open centre is somewhat overcrowded, as last December 400 migrants were released from detention and relocated to open centres.

Some residents have had to sleep in a hangar, which reeks of rotten fruit and in which birds fly and perch for the night, leaving their droppings on the bed sheets.

Added to that, this makeshift dormitory has a gutter, which according to the residents overflows when it rains.

"Today we told them we prefer moving from here and going back to Somalia. We live a narrow life here in this open centre," Mr Mohamed said, claiming that life in other open centres such as Marsa and Balzan was much better than in Ħal Far.

Mr Tortell said he was not happy with the conditions at the centre but "despite the limitations" they had already acceded to a request by residents for better facilities including a toilet block. He acknowledged, however, that "this was not enough".