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Anti-migration protest aborted
Anti-migration protest planned for today does not materialise following police warning against illegalities.
14 July 2013, 12:00am
Jurgen Balzan
Jurgen Balzan
2 min read
Anti-migration demonstrators were nowhere to be seen in Valletta this morning.
An anti-immigration protest planned for this morning in Valletta did not materialise as nobody showed up.
Although hundreds of persons had declared that they would be attending the protest on facebook, the streets in Valletta were deserted apart from the few tourists and residents who were in the capital despite the scorching heat.
Yesterday, the police warned that no permit had been issued since the demonstration's organisers failed to apply for a permit.
"The police are warning against the promotion of any misconduct that does not conform with the law," the police said in a statement.
A group named 'In favour of the government's fight against migration' promoted the aborted activity planned for this morning in Valletta, while a second protest is also planned for 4 August.
The police also warned against the "promotion of any illegality."
The protests were organised following the government's decision to consider sending back Somali migrants to Libya, hours after 102 migrants reached Malta was thwarted by the European Court of Human Rights who declared the pushback illegal.
The demonstration, intended to support Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's efforts to resolve the issue, was shot down by Muscat himself who on Friday said that it should not take place.
"This protest has neither my support, nor my government's. It should not take place," Muscat told MaltaToday.
However, in reply to Muscat's statement, the organisers 'Malta Taghna' insisted that they will go ahead with the "peaceful" demonstrations.
In a message addressed to Muscat uploaded on the facebook page promoting the demonstration, the organisers wrote: "We are not going to retreat." They added that they would go ahead with their plans to "unite in favour of the pushback policy."
"The traitors of this country should retreat, those who are against the push back policy. These traitors are found in influential positions, a tiny minority of less than 10%."
The organisers,said they will be applying for all the necessary permits for the 4 August protest.
In recent days, a number of racially motivated assaults took place, including an attack on two bus drivers on Thursday evening.
Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.
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Good, so the Maltese, after all has the good sense not to fall for extremist traps
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We should have a speakers corner in Malta
where every Gahan Malti, red communist or Fascist pig can have their say without police permits.
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@serracin I think Malta will go athiest BEFORE it embraces the indignities of Islam.
Emmanuel Mallia •
Have you not realized yet, that this is just a plan by Islamist extremest to convert Malta into Islam ? Is it a coincidence that with every influx of migrants, there are always Muslim pregnant woman ? Did you know that mosques have mushroomed all over Malta, in underground garages ? Do they have a MEPA permit ? The latest one was inaugurated last week, in an underground garage at Qawra !!
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Policeman says No. You cannot protest without a permit. How can you protest if you are not allowed to do so?! .... In Brussels they've got this cute little 'Protest Zone' which they cordon off, making sure there are more police officers than protesters. You'd need to book many days ahead, but if you're lucky you get a reply that could develop into a correspondence and perhaps even a Police Permit, which you can then frame and hang in your office as a show of democratic power. Or you can do like the dairy farmers did, hop on your milk trucks and hose-pipe the cops with milk.
