Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tear Gas for Rioting Refugees on Malta

Lampedusa, a tiny island off the southern coast of Italy, is the most common destination for refugees that make their way across the Mediterranean from Libya and Tunisia. Malta, however, gets its fair share, and like their counterparts on Lampedusa, the migrants penned up there in the holding centers sometimes riot.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:


Here’s the accompanying article from The Times of Malta:

Tear-Gas Used to Quell Migrants’ Protest

Soldiers had to use tear-gas at about noon today to quell a riot by almost 100 migrants at Safi detention centre.

The disturbance started at about 8 a.m. when a small group of migrants started to protest about their detention after their application for humanitarian protection was rejected.

They started a fire as they called for their release and insisted that the conditions they were living in were ‘inhuman’.

It was not clear what was set on fire. The migrants also damaged beds and smashed furniture as they shouted ‘Freedom, freedom’.

The situation calmed down as policemen in riot gear assembled.

But the protest then flared up again at about 11.30 a.m. and involved a much larger group of migrants who pelted the police with stones and other objects.

Policemen and soldiers in riot gear were seen entering the compound and charging the riots as another fire blazed.

An AFM helicopter flew low overhead.

Lt Col Brian Gatt, head of the Detention Service, confirmed the use of tear-gas and said a number of the migrants would be taken to court.

He said that no one was injured, but sewage water was thrown at him when he entered the migrants’ quarters.

Informed sources said water with toilet bleach was throw at the soldiers and policemen.

Army and police trucks were lined up one in front to other, blocking the view of what was happening inside. An army spokesman said the trucks were parked that way to shield cars in the courtyard from the stone-throwing migrants.


Hat tip: PJ.

5 comments:

Findalis said...

An easy way to control these "refugees" is when they riot send them back to where they came from.

They riot once, twice by the third time they get the message very fast.

Zenster said...

But the protest then flared up again at about 11.30 a.m. and involved a much larger group of migrants who pelted the police with stones and other objects.

Rubber bullets followed by real ones. There's nothing like Napoleon's proverbial "whiff of grapeshot" pour encouragé les autres.

He said that no one was injured, but sewage water was thrown at him when he entered the migrants’ quarters. [emphasis added]

Time to borrow a page from Indonesia's riot police. When the water cannon tankers run dry they refill them with raw sewage, much to the chagrin of fastidious Muslim agitators.

Anonymous said...

Throwing stones and starting fires seem to be the default means of expression for certain people.

Never mind the country or the motive for grievance : it's always stones getting thrown and arson right and left.

However, the sewage water technique was a genuine innovation, I must admit.

Andrew33 said...

Turn pigs loose all over the island. They will leave in a hurry!

Andrew33 said...

Sewage is good, but turning thousands of wild pigs loose there will help speed things up.