The police on Friday raided a makeshift dormitory in Ħal Far where migrants are known to reside in an operation that targeted sub-Saharan Africans with Italian status, Times of Malta has learnt.
A police spokesman said a joint operation between district police, the immigration section, and officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit took place on Friday afternoon.
Sources told Times of Malta that migrants of sub-Saharan African origin, most of them in possession of Italian documents, were the primary targets of the raid.
The sources said the police were prepared with several vehicles, including buses, and took the documents of the targeted migrants, making copies for the migrants and holding on to the originals. They said that migrants with Italian status were forced to purchase flights back to Italy, with a deadline for a departure date that must not exceed August 15.
“The guys were all handcuffed and taken away, they were not asked how long they had been in Malta or if they had work permits,” the sources said.
Migrants who are granted temporary protection or have documents from an EU country have the right to travel to another EU country for up to three months.
The Ħal Far site where the raid was carried out was until recently home to Mohammed Jallow and Ibrahim Bah, the two survivors of the drive-by shooting in which Lassana Cisse Souleymane was murdered.
“My biggest concern is that there is a racialisation process, in that only sub-Saharan Africans were picked up,” Maria Pisani, director of human rights NGO Integra Foundation said.
“Documents weren’t checked onsite but they were taken to the police, this is deeply concerning because it also highlights the ongoing problems there are with asylum in Europe,” she said.
Dr Pisani said that the criminalisation of migrants continued to be worrying, as these people were considered to be a source of cheap labour and at the same time completely expendable in the ongoing political game with Italy.
“Their rights continue to be ignored,” Dr Pisani said.