Not that is was a surprise. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention described the closed centres of Safi and Lyster barracks, as well as the tent city of Hal Far, as not in line with international laws on human rights. It is not something to brag about; that is why the Maltarightnow, the PN on-line portal, was mum on the subject, whereas others gave it front page prominence. It is not nice to be told that the conditions that immigrants live in are ‘appalling’ and ‘sub-standard’. It is shameful to say the least.
Week in and week out we are told how Malta’s economy, despite the eurozone being in a recession, is resilient and ever ‘growing’; the PM never misses a beat to remind the rest of the EU member states that the Maltese way proved to be better.
Nevertheless, at the end of the show, when the lights are to be switched off, when the caretaker is warming his broom, it is the pity card that is taken out from the cylinder to point out the scale of the problem that Malta, with its limited resources, is facing with the number of illegal immigration arriving at its shore.
