'I want a decent life' says Tunisian jailed for escaping detention centre

23 year-old Tunisian national Hamdi Nehmawi was handed a two-year jail term by Magistrate Gabriella Vella this morning, after he pleaded guilty to escaping from the Hal Far migrant detentention centre.

"I'm a young man who wants a decent life like others," the Tunisian told the Court through an interpreter.

He added that he has been held in detention in just a room with four other men. "I only see the four walls everyday and speak to no one," he said.

Nehmawi was stunned at the judgment, and resigned to his fate by lifting his hands to officers who cuffed him and escorted him to Corradino Prisons.

The Tunisian, was among a group of migrants who managed to escape from Hal Far last Sunday.