It started with a broken toilet, led to a mass exodus to the Ħamrun police station and ended with a handshake.
A group of 32 Somali men marched to the Ħamrun police station yesterday morning, claiming they had been evicted from Marsa open centre by management for no reason and flashing their centre residence cards in indignation.
But according to centre director Ahmed Bughri, the men were never kicked out and had simply been told that if they did not abide by open centre rules, they could “go live somewhere else”.
The incident came on the back of rising tensions between a Somali contingent and open centre management, stemming from damage done to some of the centre’s newly refurbished toilets and kitchens.
According to Dr Bughri, a small group of residents were systematically dirtying and damaging bathrooms and kitchens at the centre, to the detriment of their own colleagues.
Open centre staff on Monday found that one of the new toilets had been completely broken and knocked onto its side. Dr Bughri fined each of the residents who had a key to the toilet €10, to make up for repairs.
This did not go down well with many of those affected, who say they already live from hand to mouth on the monthly €130 allowance given to them.
And matters reached a head yesterday, following an argument between Dr Bughri and one of the fined Somalis.
“I cannot have residents damaging or dirtying facilities and then not doing anything about it,” Dr Bughri said. “We’ve worked hard to improve this open centre and we won’t let it slide back into its previous state.”
He denied evicting the residents and said they had misunderstood his warning to either abide by the rules or leave.
“I had an argument with one individual but the others decided they would join in. I will not tolerate such gang tactics,” a determined Dr Bughri said.
One of the Somalis, who asked to remain unnamed, insisted that they had initially been evicted.
“I am not stupid, I know what they told us. After the police station we went to the AWAS (Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers) office to complain. But things are OK now. We said sorry, Dr Bughri said sorry, and we have a home again.”