This is one of the migrants who were locked up in detention today
Published:
July 9, 2013 at 7:45pm
This baby is locked up at Lyster Barracks with its mother, another baby and another 40 women. Its father is locked up separately with all the men, ready to be flown back to Libya.
If that happens, the likelihood that this baby will ever see its father again (and vice versa) is practically down to zero. As for its mother, words fail me that anyone can separate a family like that.
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Moviment tan-Nazisti.
Ciccio, they have always had a Nazi mentality
And they always will. It is inherited.
How utterly repulsive. Seems more like the 3rd Reich than socialism.
About time Mr and Mrs. Muscat took their twins for a tour at a detention centre.
Or maybe even to a state school?
“This is how other children live, my dears.”
We knew this would happen:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120225/local/A-case-of-bad-judgement-.408342
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120224/local/Immigrant-push-back-breached-human-rights.408257
Shame on you, Prime Minister – how can you lay your head on the pillow tonight?
Like he always has. Muscat has no moral compass let alone a conscience.
He can sleep at night knowing he has the support of over 90% of Maltese.
This man is not fit to lead this country.
This photo speaks for itself – heartbreaking!
Dr. Mallia is fully responsible for this.
This is criminal to leave a baby outside and uncared for after a long stressing sea voyage.
But then what do you expect from a person who behaves in the way we have seen recently including hugging criminals.
I hope the children get out of detention quickly. It is not a place where infants should be.
This sort of segregation used to happen by the Nazi SS in concentration camps
Our holier than thou Prime Minister went to meet the Pope a couple of weeks back. What a far cry he is from the Pope when it comes to the way he looks at immigrants. Shame on you Dr. Muscat!!
We need a real man with real values leading our country!
We had one; but this egoistic tribe did away with him. This tribe thought, in its egoistic bliss, that they will be better off without him.
The parents were irresponsible enough to cross the Mediterranean and endanger the life of this child. This child should be taken away from them if they are not genuine refugees, which I doubt it.
[Daphne – I see it has not occurred to you, Paul, that staying put would have been even more irresponsible, which is why they took the smaller risk. It fascinates me to find that some people have no imaginative empathy at all, and cannot visualise situations that are outside their direct experience.]
I am sorry Daphne that I disagree with you, these are victims of human traffickers. Unfortunately Malta cannot continue to accept everyone.
I always make a point of speaking to Africans when I am in Malta, and most of them come from safe countries, like Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria etc.
I am not racist, I have black relatives.
[Daphne – ‘Malta cannot continue to accept everyone’. Good thing that Britain accepted lots of Maltese like you then, to make space here in Malta.]
These people are Somali.
If you have black relatives, by your reasoning, the British got lumped by a very fine man; an immigrant from Malta with black relatives.
Unfortunately the UK recently imported poor and uneducated people from Muslim countries who brought with them customs belonging to the Middle Ages.
The professionals that immigrated into the UK replaced the British ones, who left the UK because of the poor conditions in the NHS.
Despite the increase in the UK population, the number of GPs, hospitals, dentists, schools, police, prisons etc. remained the same.
I suggest anyone who disagrees with me goes to visit Tower Hamlets in London, Birmingham, Luton and Bradford, and speak to ethnic white English people.
I noticed that English people have become hostile towards foreigners. I felt more welcome in 1980 than now.
[Daphne – And yet you recommend the same treatment to others.]
No Daphne, not at all. I make a point of speaking to black people in Malta and sit next to them in the bus and talk to them. I treat them with the dignity they deserve as humans. I have been to several African countries and I like Africans in general, I prefer them to the loud rude and uncouth Maltese!
Ghaziza Daphne, sfortunamtament ghawn wisq nies li jaraw sal-ponta ta’ mnieherhom f’din il-gzira ckejkna.
Avaaz have initiated and a circulating a petition. May I appeal to everyone to sign it please. Here’s the link: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_the_Victims_Malta_should_not_pushback_migrants_illegally/?cMymvab
Kullhadd b’xortih izda d-destin huwa differenti.
Tista tkun tifel jew tifla u ssiefer mal-genituri tieghek anke fuq visiti statali tal-pajjiz u jista jigrilek bhal din it-tarbija li xi hadd ghax ikollu l-poter jiehu decizjoni kiefra li ma tkunx tista tara lil missierek aktar kemm iddum haj.
Min ghandu dritt jiddecidi ghalik meta int tkun qed tbaghti u aktar u aktar dwar tarbijja li ma taf u tahti xejn.
Let’s hope this is all down to brinkmanship.
If it is brinkmanship it is still downright shameful that Joseph Muscat, the Prime Minister of Malta, our Prime Minister, is taking a dispute to the verge of conflict in the hope of forcing the EU to make concessions.
He does this ignoring the physical and mental emotions of 102 desperate human beings. Exposed people who have risked their life to get to a safe harbour and start anew.
We pride ourselves as a welcoming nation but all we seem to welcome is the tourist Euro. We don’t really care about people who come here, all we care is about is their money – and these people have no money.
It’s not brinkmanship. Muscat will always push to see how far he can take it. he’s been doing this for the last 4 months, only to then back off and say ‘see how we listen to the people’ not like the PN.
he seems to have no concept of the fact that alot of what he has done in the last 3 months is nowhere near to what PN were accused of doing in arrogance
Two very well written opinions:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/blogsdetails/blogs/Beyond-ethics-and-the-law-there-is-humanity-Dr-Muscat-20130709
http://carolinemuscat.com/2013/07/dear-prime-minister-how-do-you-sleep-at-night/
http://carolinemuscat.com/2013/07/dear-prime-minister-how-do-you-sleep-at-night/
Did he really say that those who take action against him in court will have to shoulder responsibility?
I don’t remember Mintoff’s reign, I was still too young, but this legislature seems to be taking over where he left off.
Oh yes he did. Mintoff again
Comment posted today in the Times of Malta:
“I am disgust about all those political rubbish- EU just want to pay Malta to keep own street clean from the immigrants… Take them all and spread all over the Europe but leave the Malta in peace!!!!”
I just love the altruism shown to these immigrants.
I have never been ashamed to be Maltese but now I am.
It is not as though Muscat has no children. He has two beautiful girls. Is it possible he cannot just imagine what it is like to be locked up, away from them, waiting to be forced on a flight, a flight which will separate him from them forever.
Dear Observer, it is entirely possible. People of a certain standing, and who choose to remain of that (low) standing, even when surrounded by an abundance of avenues to ameliorate their manners, basic human decency, outlook and ultimately wisdom, only see as far as their nose reaches (as I wrote earlier in Maltese, jaraw biss sal-ponta ta’mnieherhom) just don’t develop the mental aptitude and emotional depth to become empathetic or compassionate about anyone except themselves. Dominic Mintoff is a case study in the subject.
Malajr insih il-kliem ta’ San Frangisk!
Ma ghadux iridha ta’ Margareth Thatcher issa.
I hope that all the people who found it in them to shout ‘Shame on you’ in Dr Gonzi’s face before the last election, do come to realise that the shame is THEIRS and theirs alone for supporting such a morally corrupt party and for helping getting it elected by their support.
Knowing that the people who had the courage to stand up to be counted in the face of this have, in fact managed to thwart the plans to send these people back – to separate children from their fathers, wives from their husbands, is going to help me sleep a little bit better tonight. When earlier today I heard about my government’s plans for these people I wept openly and unashamedly at the prospect of what these people were about to endure, and before the news was out that the ECHR has ruled against sending these people back I knew that I was facing a long, uncomfortable night ahead.
Knowing that my government was ready to ignore its international obligations, was ready to act in breach of human rights, was insisting on behaving in such a despicably immoral way is, however going to make me feel far more conscious of the type of Malta our Prime Minister wants us to live in – the Malta he wants for himself and for his daughters is perhaps not the same Malta we’re comfortable sharing …
As for the next bit, I thought it fit to borrow from some of the slogans we heard on our televisions and pasted on billboards in the run-up to the election … (hence my switch to the vernacular):
il-Malta li rrid nghix fiha JIEN sur Prim Ministru hi l-Malta fejn id-drittijiet fundamentali ta’ KULL individwu – irrispettivament mit-twemmin, religjon, kulur, tieghu, huma rispettati; fejn li jghodd mhux int fejn twelidt u kemm int privileggjat, izda l-fatt li int uman hu bizzejjed biex int thossok protett f’dal-pajjiz; il-Malta li rrid nghix fiha jien hi Malta li taf tkun hanina ma’ min ghandu bzonn l-ghajnuna, Malta li tilqa’ fi hdanha lil kull min fiha jfittex kenn, wens, u harsien mill-oppressjoni … ir-ritratt ta’ dik it-tarbija mitluqa fuq bankina mhux biss kexkixni minhabba fl-implikazzjonijiet kollha ta’ dan il-kaz, izda nissel fija bizgha li taht dan il-gvern ‘the end justify the means’ … u li biex nehilsu minn dik li f’ghajnejna tista’ tidher li hi problema lesti li naghmlu kollox – iva KOLLOX, basta nissodisfaw lill-folla, li tipikament dejjem taghzel lil Barabba …
Oh and by the by – where were the lawyers who openly and unashamedly support the Labour party and its policies when the horrible news came out today?
Perhaps no one thought it fit to seek their signature on the judicial protest that was filed by the more morally upright members of our legal profession during the day today … was it the case that many of them were not working at or around the law courts on a Tuesday morning, and were perhaps lounging on a boat around Malta, or enjoying a dip in their pool at home, while others – human beings like them – were facing the prospect of having to return to the horrifying reality they must have been so desperate to flee from, seeing that the crossing to Europe is so perilous in itself?
Is it the case that no one bothered approaching them? Or could it possibly be the case that there were approached, but did not wish to have anything to do with this business ‘ladarba l-kbir Leader iddecieda?’ The mind boggles (while the heart weeps).
It is unacceptable that irregular immigrants are treated as some illness that Malta needs to be cured of. One cannot truly be pro-life and treat these persons in such a draconian manner.
Push-backs are extreme and impinge of the basic human rights of these individuals.
Malta has a responsibility to act with compassion and it is in our view unwise of our Government to act in this way. The message being sent to the general public is the wrong one. It encourages xenophobia.
Paul Vincenti
Send that message to [email protected] and to [email protected]
This photo does not change reality. Human life is always a priority however this doesn’t mean that all Africans should end in Malta.
We NEED help both financially and by TRUE burden-sharing.
And since when did all Africans end up in Malta?
We do get our share but have you seen the amount who end up in Italy, Spain, Greece (which at the moment is in a much worse position than us although I am getting the impression that our PM will soon get us there) and France.
And the ones who come here get here by mistake! They do not want to get to Malta, they want to get to mainland Europe. And given attitudes such as yours I cannot blame them.
Just hoping and praying that we Maltese will never need to find refuge en masse in another country. Unfortunately what goes around comes around.
Get the point please… Malta is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and even one illegal migrant leaves a larger impact than 100 in Germany!
Mentioning the Maltese, please learn the difference between LEGAL and ILLEGAL. The Maltese migrants travelled LEGALLY and the countries receiving them knew everything about them. Those coming here are ILLEGAL and we do not know anything about them.
And are you denying the fact that we need help?
To be fair, the policy to keep families with children for a few days in a separate part of the Hermes Block detention centre had been in place for a few years.
[Daphne – Families include the fathers, Mr Bugeja, not just mothers and babies with the fathers separated out.]
They would usually be released to an open centre after three days at most once they are given the all clear from the medical authorities (there is a requirement to check for TB and scabies). But as far as I know this is the first time that the fathers were removed from the women and children.
Shame on you, Dr Muscat and to all those who voted for you.
This is a bitter taste of what we are to expect in the coming four years+. Your incapability to govern is already at its worst. Would you like your children treated this way? So why do it to others?
Reading comments and feeling literally astonished.
So now it’s Dr. Muscat’s fault. As if Gonzi hadn’t taken such decisions.
And by the way….such matters do not even reach Dr. Muscat. This government has a proper ‘operations manual’ and operating procedures’ :)
You people are the reason Maltese politics will never change. Moaners. Stop moaning and act!
Dear Mark,
We are not the ones to act. Dr Muscat is in power so he is the one who should be acting, infact he is acting to everyone’s disgrace. What operations manual? He is the Prime Minister.
Dr Gonzi was in similar situations, if not even worse but he handled the situation much better because he was a true politician. Never did we see people lying in the streets as we saw them recently.
Is this the change you wanted?