Somali family finds freedom from Hal Far

A Somali mother with seven young children sitting in the Emigrants' Commission looks slightly bewildered, yet relieved, as she treasures her first moments of freedom after spending eight months at Lyster Barracks, in Hal Far.

Ali Ahmed Zahra kept a cautious eye on her children as they ran through the offices of the commission unable to contain their excitement over their newfound freedom. Commission director Philip Calleja said this was the largest family that they had managed to accommodate and they were very happy she had been granted humanitarian status.

"We are now in contact with the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees in Rome to try and track down her husband and reunite him with his family," he said.

In the meantime, this large family has been offered accommodation in Guardamangia, subsisting on an allowance of Lm1 a day for every child and Lm2 for the mother.

So far, the commission has housed 180 people since last year - 11 men, 24 women and 37 children - with 688 remaining in detention centres.

The commission's resources are stretched to the limit and while it is working hard to ensure the family has everything it needs, it appealed to the public to help in every way they can.

"The family do not have any belongings, except for some clothes, so they need the basic necessities, such as toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, socks and underwear - items most of us take for granted," Mgr Calleja said.

The ordeal of the Zahras started last summer when the family decided to escape the oppression of their country once and for all and headed towards Libya, and eventually Malta.

She arrived in Malta heavily pregnant, with six children and hardly any possessions. She applied for refugee status claiming that in 1984 her uncle and cousins were killed by the Somali government.

She was also arrested for a month in 1988 for taking part in a protest against the government. She endured further heartbreak and fear when her mother was killed during the bombing in northern Somalia that year.

Instead of being granted refugee status, she was offered humanitarian status and given back her freedom.

Those who wish to help the Zahra family may contact the commission on tel. 2122 2644 or send a donation specifying it is for the family to the Emigrants' Commission, Dar l-Emigrant, Castille Place, Valletta.