An air of resignation hangs over the residents of the Marsa open centre in the wake of the latest sea tragedy that claimed the lives of 800 migrants.
Unaware of the news, a Ghanaian man buries his head in disbelief when I tell him how many have died.
Sitting down outside the centre, he gently shakes his head from side to side. The look in his eyes suggests flashbacks from his own experience four years ago on a rickety boat that brought him to Malta.
“What can we do? Some live and some die,” he says.
It is a stark assessment of a situation that has shaken Europeans to the core as the Mediterranean Sea turns into a graveyard.
Another man sitting next to him, who describes himself only as African, tells me the sea journey is very dangerous.
“You have nothing left and they push you out to sea in the hope of reaching Europe. But that is life; some people die,” he says.
None of the men I speak to want to be quoted by name. As they sit and talk under the warm sun, a young Somali wearing large sunglasses tells me: “I’m like a cuckoo [I migrate], only I’m human.”
The Somali comes up to me outside the driver’s window as I park the car in front of the centre.
“Do you have a job for me? Maybe painting the house,” he tells me with a smile. It is very characteristic of the many migrants who sit every day around the Marsa open centre area in the hope of being offered the odd job.
When he learns that I am a journalist interested to get his views on the latest tragedy, the Somali speaks of every individual’s destiny.
“Everyone has his time marked and only God knows when we will die. You take the risk and if it is not your time you will not die,” he tells me. The Somali blames the problems that force people to migrate on politicians. “I had money in Somalia but no peace and it is the politicians who have to solve the problems they create,” he says, blaming European politicians for doing little to help countries like his find peace.
The Ghanaian tells me the “system” is broken. He points his finger at what he describes as corrupt African governments. “They call themselves government but what do they really do for the people? The system is broken and this pushes people to do unimaginable things.”
He says Libya has become a treacherous place, unlike what it was until a few years ago. “Today in Libya you have to sleep with one eye and one ear open because you do not know what might happen and this is what is pushing Africans to leave.”
Candle walk
A candle walk will be held this evening from Pembroke to Sliema to commemorate the loss of hundreds of lives in the Mediterranean Sea.
The peaceful, silent walk along the sea will start from two points: near the Institute of Tourism Studies in Pembroke at 6.30pm or Spinola near the Love monument at 6.45pm.
At Exiles candles will be placed to form the slogan All Lives Matter and petals will be placed in the sea.