IN PHOTOS: People Are Noticing More And More Instances Of Migrant Homelessness Around Malta
The eviction of over 100 migrants from a cow farm in Qormi has raised the spectre of a growing homeless migrant population in Malta… and more and more people are noticing.
Images of homeless people around Malta have become more and more common. In comments to the Times of Malta, YMCA Malta, who run a shelter for homeless people, said nearly half of its homeless people were migrants, and a third of them were foreign EU citizens.
One third of the people at another homeless shelter, the Dar Papa Franġisku shelter, were African, and their ages ranged from 25 to 55.
“When we are full up, we refer clients to the national agency Appoġġ, but some cases are referred back to us after a few weeks,” said the CEO of YMCA, Anthony Camilleri. “When we question where this person slept during those weeks when we could not host them, we are told that most sleep in cars, vacant houses or worse still, out on the streets or on beaches.”
Photos by Frank Psaila
Photo by Matthew Mirabelli
Photo by Marc Aaron Orchard
Above photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
At least one magistrate has commented on what should be done with any migrants who are caught committing crimes
Giving a sentence to two Bulgarian women found guilty of robbing an English woman, Magistrate Joe Mifsud called for the consideration of the deportation of migrants found guilty of having committed a crime in Malta.
“This courtroom urges the Immigration Officials to use their power under the law, within international treaties, and not be afraid to take certain steps including against those who commit crimes in our country and create an unneeded alarm within the population of these islands, and are repatriated back to their country after they serve their sentence here,” he said.
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