Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1481871
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 OCTOBER 2022 NEWS After Hamrun brawl, minister goes to town with 'perp walk' photos on Facebook Critics believe the home affairs minsiter's publicised raids on visa overstayers are a deliberate portrayal of black migrants as criminals, in response to a social media fallout on the viral Hamrun brawl KARL AZZOPARDI A brawl between rival Syrian communities on the Hamrun High Street at Fra Diegu Square in August, was shot on mobile phone video that went viral in what became yet another con- spicuous incident on migra- tion-related unrest. Though rare for its intensity, during which outnumbered po- lice officers were unable to keep the brawlers apart, two men – 35-year-old construction work- er Abdullah Ahmed, of Marsa and Abdullah Sheikh Ahmad, 30 from Mosta – were charged with the unrest. Despite a summer of relatively low number of boat arrivals, this was not the first time that such incidents provoked a populist backlash of anti-immigrant out- rage. The PN's home affairs spokes- person Joe Giglio, and Gozitan MP Alex Borg, were among the first to take to social media calling for immediate deporta- tions for foreigners charged with breaking the law. For the popular Giglio, it was a popular clarion call even though the learned lawyer knows Mal- tese laws do not permit depor- tations that breach international rules that protect people from being returned to a country where their life could be in dan- ger. Even the Immigration Act specifies which cases foreigners can be returned to their country of origin. The government was quick to take the cue from the popular outrage, with home affairs min- ister Byron Camilleri ordering immigration raids that dras- tically increased in frequency, promoted by Camilleri person- ally with photos of police raids which he said were centred around "prevention, returns and relocations." The raids are believed to have targeted visa overstayers, that is, asylum seekers who obtained international protection in an- other EU country, such as Italy, then crossed over to Malta. Ac- cording to the EU's Dublin Reg- ulation, they are not entitled to work in Schengen countries like Malta but can stay for no more than three months. Refugees and asylum seekers with protection from the Maltese government cannot be returned to their country of origin while still un- der protection. An analysis of Camilleri's per- sonal social media profile shows that between September and October, the minister posted no less than six social media posts showing migrants in handcuffs being escorted by the police, captioned with ambiguous state- ments such as "authorities are attacking irregular migration". A 2 October post caption end- ed with the sentence: "The pro- cess for them to no longer stay in the country was started immedi- ately." A 30 September post shows mi- grants, dressed by immigration authorities in matching bright green shirts, headed for the de- partures gate at the airport. They formed part of a group of 208 in- dividuals found living irregularly in Malta. In the photo's caption, the minister said that the repa- triation of these migrants was part of the government's strate- gy "in making the countries lo- calities safer". The post was slammed by Na- tionalist MP Beppe Fenech Ad- ami in parliament earlier this week, who said the home affairs minister's string of Facebook posts were a knee-jerk reaction to criticism levelled against gov- ernment on migration. He compared the Facebook post uploaded by Camilleri of migrants board- ing a plane, to a scene "right out of Guantanamo Bay" – a reference to the bright orange pris- on uniforms used in the US prison compound. "It's good to crackdown on illegalities, but to post it on Face- book? To get a populist reaction? It's in bad taste," he said. Interestingly, the minister corralled the State's crack- down on these overstayers by posting the majori- ty of the photos on his personal pro- file, rather than the ministry Facebook page. The posts were criticised by Aditus Foundation, who said the photos were "whipping up a xen- ophobic frenzy". "Handbook on how to whip up xenophobic frenzy: carry out mass raids in the middle of a very rainy dark night, with photogra- phers on the ready. Include pho- tos of armed police, handcuffed men and sniffer dogs. Publish said photos with phrases on ir- regular migration, drugs and or- ganised crime mentioned in one mouthful. Publish another set of photos of police dismantling ille- gal structures by a bar frequent- ed by migrants whilst thanking the cleansing department," the human rights NGO said. "Yes, those that should be re- turned, must be returned with due regard to their rights and dignity. Anything above and beyond is vile propaganda and serves no purpose other than the Minister's own."