Police inspect migrant workers’ documents in Marsa

Police officers undertook a document-checking operation in Marsa this morning, with the aim of identifying the legal status of the migrants in the area.

The announcement was made by the police, which said that immigration police as well as district police officers and members from the Rapid Intervention Unit, were dispatched to Marsa at about 6:00am, in order to “identify any migrants that could be in the area”.

The police added that the main aim of the operation was to ensure that the migrants were in Malta legally.

The documents presented to the police will be verified so as to “eliminate any doubt that they could have been falsified”.

No information as yet has been released as to what the result was of the operation.

The Aditus foundation, an NGO that guarantees legal rights for asylum seekers and refugees, said the State had every right to ensure respect of its immigration rules, “but the climate intentionally created over the past months is one of intimidation, fear and insecurity”.

“This does not promote public order, but instead promotes a racialised approach further fuelling exclusion, marginalisation and division,” Aditus said.