[WATCH] Students stage protest for migrant who committed suicide

University students hold silent protest in solidarity with migrant who committed suicide

University students held a silent protest in remembrance of Frederick Ofosu, a 32-year-old Ghanian migrant who committed suicide last weekend.

They lit candles at the University quadrangle and held up slogans, such as “Are you satisfied now Carmelo Abela?”, “How many Frederick Ofusus before we start acting?”, “No man is an island”, and “I see humans but not humanity”.

The protest was organized by Christian Democrat student organization SDM, and was also attended by Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola and Partit Demokratiku secretary general Karl Camilleri.

“As soon as we heard about this shocking news, we felt that it was our duty to take action,” SDM president Gabriel Micallef said. “Events like this are absolutely unacceptable in a country that should be promoting social justice, tolerance and love for humanity.”

He also welcomed the government’s recent announcement that it won’t deport migrants on Temporary Humanitarian Protection-New (THPn) status once their status expires for good at the end of October.

“We hope that this decision will result in more respect for these people who didn’t have much of a future in their home countries and found some hope in ours,” Micallef said.

Ofusu was found strangled with an electric cable in a Qawra building site on Saturday night, and left a recorded message explaining why he killed himself: he was being treated like a criminal although he had done nothing wrong.

Home affairs minister Carmelo Abela said that Ofusu, who had been in Malta for eight years, did not enjoy THPn status as had been earlier reported.

He said that the Ghanian had been refused THPn status three times already, and that in September 2016 he had applied for assisted voluntary return: a programme that grants returning migrants a financial support package.

But the process had to be halted, due to pending fines he had yet to pay on a court case dealing with a past misdemeanour.

Following the suicide, the minister said that the government will soon announce “new administrative details” in connection with THPn.

Photos: James Bianchi/MediaToday

He dispelled suggestions that come October 31, migrants’ failure to meet new requirements would result in them being deported. The requirements mean migrants need to make arrangements to procure all the required documentation from their country of origin. Human rights NGOs believe that the government is imposing requirements which it knows the migrants will not be able to meet.

“For migrants to be deported, they need legal documentation and their country of origin to accept them,” the minister said.

However, he insisted that the government has no intention of regularising migrants on THPn status on the grounds that such a move “could send the wrong message and cause more problems”.