Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1267088
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 JULY 2020 KARL AZZOPARDI HOMELESS underage migrants are living around the Triton fountain square in Val- letta, after getting kicked out from the Hal Far open centre without money or shelter. The asylum seekers, who have been liv- ing on the streets of the capital for around two weeks, told MaltaToday they have been forced to live on the bare minimum, waiting for people to give them food or money to make it through the day. Mohamed Ahmad, aged just 17, said he has been unable to find a job after getting kicked out of the reception centre, and said he feared being stuck in the endless cycle of unemployment and homelessness. "Every time I go to apply for a job, employ- ers don't want me because of my age. I don't know what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm just 17, I have no family and I have nothing here. I'm scared," Ahmad said. Another asylum seeker, Ali Muhammad, conveyed the hopelessness of his friends living on the street. "We have been here for two weeks. First police told us we can't stay here. I told them I would be happy to leave if I had a place to stay, but where should I go?" he said. "No one here is happy. All we need is to find a job, but as time goes by it is becoming even harder for us," he said. Muhammad said that on alternating days, half the group spends the morning looking for jobs across the island, while the other half stays put and protects the few belong- ings they have. "We only have each other here, we are each other's family." Every three days or so, the homeless mi- grants bathe in the surrounding sea, as basic facilities are not available to them. "What am I supposed to do? We sometimes pick food and rubbish from the skips here. You think I'm going to bother washing in the sea?" he said. Despite the hardship, Muhammad still has hope for the future, conveying his wish at being successful in life and helping oth- ers like him. "I don't want others to pass through what I am passing through now. During the day it's hot, during the night it's cold. No one should have to do this," he said. Another 18-year-old migrant told Malta- Today he had planned to make the crossing to Europe with his brother, who has been imprisoned in Libya for trying to flee the country. Umar Isa, from Chad, recounted the per- ilous journey he had to take to reach Libyan shores. Isa said that he and his brother had to first cross the Libyan border from the southern tip of the country through the Sa- hara desert, before spending a year in Libya waiting for a boat heading to Europe. "My Sleeping rough in Underage migrants fear getting stuck in endless cycle of unemployment and homelessness