Watch: ‘Ħamrun Hairdresser Should Have Left Years Ago’: Minister Stands Firm Ahead Of Controversial Deportation
Amidst calls for Ħamrun hairdresser Kusi Dismark to be allowed to stay in Malta, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri has stood firm and insisted his impending deportation to Ghana is only fair.
In comments to Lovin Malta, Camilleri argued out that the Ghanaian man had entered Malta irregularly and chose not to cooperate with orders from the authorities to leave the country.
“If we believe in fair migration policies, we shouldn’t make a difference between people,” he said.
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“Last year, over 300 people who entered Malta irregularly were returned to their country of origin and the question we must ask is whether this person should be judged differently from the others.”
“According to the policies I believe in, no one should be given an advantage over others and everyone should be treated equally.”
Dismark fled the Ivory Coast due to clashes with his family and found a second home in Malta.
Although he was denied asylum and given a removal order in 2011, he remained in Malta. He got a job, saved up money, enrolled in a hairdressing course in MCAST, saved up more money, and opened his dream salon – the Best Friend Salon (Adamfo Pa in Twi) in Ħamrun’s High Street.
However, his life was recently turned upside down when police entered his salon, arrested him mid-haircut and took him to the Safi Detention Centre pending deportation to Ghana.
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Camilleri told Lovin Malta that, throughout all this time, Dismark knew he had to go back to his country of origin. He said he could have either opted for a voluntary return scheme, where he could have been given a cash allowance and aid to return back to Ghana, or wait to get forced out of the country.
“Our policies and law state that refugees should be given all the necessary rights, but that if you entered Malta irregularly and aren’t a refugee, you must go back to your country of origin.”
He said the government doesn’t want to encourage people to migrate to Malta by irregularly crossing the Mediterranean Sea, a perilous trip that has claimed the lives of thousands of migrants.
Do you think people in Kusi’s position should be deported, or a new mechanism should come into effect?
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