‘Give Us Our Rights’: Migrants In Malta Gather In Valletta To Call For An End To ‘Politics Of Injustice And Cruelty’
Yesterday, many of Malta’s migrants gathered in Valletta to call for “an end to the politics of injustice and cruelty”.
A demonstration advocating for migrants’ rights was held on Sunday, with local NGO Moviment Graffitti among those spearheading the initiative.
The event was prompted by the recent detention of Ħamrun barber Kusi Dismark, who faced imminent deportation.
Although, according to Dismark’s legal representatives, the Ghanaian returned home “willingly”, the march proceeded nonetheless.
The demonstration saw migrants and Maltese people alike joining forces to “call for stability” by marching from Ħamrun to Valletta, where speeches were delivered in front of Parliament.
“We demanded that all those who have been working and living in Malta for a long time, among them many children who only know Malta as their home, be given a residence permit and all the necessary support to live a stable and decent life,” Moviment Graffitti wrote on social media.
“The politics of this Government is leading to bringing over tens of thousands of workers from abroad in the name of economic growth, while denying persons who live, work, have friends and children in Malta, the necessary documentation which could give them stability and a decent life,” the activists continued.
“The case of Kusi – a person who was detained by the authorities and deported all of a sudden, after 13 years in Malta– is not an exception,” the organisation continued.
It went on to say that like Dismark, there are countless migrants who, despite making Malta their home and actively contributing to the community, “are faced with a politics that treats them like dirt.”
The NGO described these migrants as being “placed in a situation of vulnerability,” eventually ending up “in the clutches of those hawks that are always ready to feed on their exploitation.”
Were you part of the march?
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