‘Detention is like a lawless country’

Imagine being woken up at 5 a.m., having your hands bound using cable ties and being left to simmer in the sun for seven hours.

If you challenge the guards, they beat you

This is what Osman Dicko, an Ivorian representative from Migrants’ Network for Equality, claims happened to him and 100 other detained migrants back in 2006.

“It happened several times, and for all I know it still happens.

“Detention is another country, one where there are no laws,” Mr Dicko said yesterday.

Representatives from a gathering of migration-focused NGOs gathered in Valletta yesterday to expose what they said was the hidden violence inherent in Malta’s mandatory detention system.

“If you challenge the guards, they beat you. Then they take you to hospital and tell the doctors that you fought with another migrant,” Mr Dicko claimed.

He and other migrant spokesmen called on the authorities to speak – and listen – to detainees and their stories, rather than rely on official claims.

“Nobody ever asks why people try to escape detention. We’re not here to attack detention personnel or politicians. But detention makes Maltese think we’re criminals.”

Hosham Toha, a Sudanese network member, had a measure of sympathy for soldiers working in detention. “They’re trained for war and discipline, and then they’re expected to suddenly deal with people who’ve just arrived in a new reality. Soldiers shouldn’t be on detention,” he argued.

Restricted access to detention centres further exacerbated problems.

“NGOs like ours can help educate detainees, but we’re not given permission to enter the centres.”

One man, an Ethiopian pastor called Habtom Tefare, said part of the problem was that detainees had no place to report violent incidents, following the closure of an NGO office in one detention centre some years ago.

It was time for the existing detention system to be done away with, the men all agreed.

“Malta has been receiving migrants for 10 years, and nothing’s changed. Think of all the things a child learns in 10 years,” Pastor Habtom said as he pointed to a little girl scurrying around his feet.

Goitom Yosief, an Eritrean man and employee with the Jesuit Refugee Service, appealed for reasoned debate.

“How does detention benefit Malta? Let’s have a reasonable debate. Migrants arrive because they’re escaping something much worse, so even if detention was 10 years long, it wouldn’t serve as a deterrent.”

As the press conference drew to a close, two elderly Maltese women who had stopped to listen in pulled Mr Dicko aside.

“We’re not all the same,” one told him. “Jesus told us to love everyone no matter what their colour. Be strong, and God bless you.”

The Migrants Network for Equality and various NGOs will be holding a silent protest in Valletta tomorrow at 5 p.m. over immigrants’ treatment in detention centres.