Unprecedented influx of families, women, and children

Over 25% of the sudden wave of immigration from war-torn Libya is composed of women and children – an unprecedented demographic turnout that hints at the unconventional ‘refugee’ nature of the displacement underway.

31 March 2011, 12:00am
by Nestor Laiviera

2 min read

Roughly 800 immigrants made landfall at the start of the week, with potentially more on the way. Of these, as many as 178 were women and 67 were children, amounting to 245 – fully one quarter of the total number.

Official sources told MaltaToday that there were as many as 23 families with one child and four such families with two children.

There were 13 single parents with one child, one single parent with two children, one single parent with three, and one single parent with four children.

The immigrant influx also brought with it two single pregnant females, while there was also one couple wherein the female partner was pregnant.

A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry said that, as these women and children are considered ‘vulnerable’ individuals, policy dictates that they be kept in open centres, requiring only medical clearance before release.

He explained that for the moment, as the required medical clearance is still pending, these are still being kept in the Hermes Block" a part of Lyster Barracks Detention Centre.

He said that given the “compartmentalised nature” of the complex, the women and children are being kept apart from the men, in conditions that are adequate and that provide them all the necessary protection.

He added that they have been prioritised for immediate medical clearance, and that within a matter of days they will be relocated to open centres tailored specifically for families (such as those in Fgura and Hal Balzan).

Asked whether these would be enough, he said that should these not, it is only “a minor consideration” to arrange for more such open centres to be set up.

The only complication that might rear its head, he explained, is in cases where medical clearance is not possible due to illness. He was however dismissive of the possibility of serious diseases.

“In most cases, it is only cases of TB that delay medical clearance,” which he added can be quickly treated and the risk of contagion eliminated before releasing the individual to an open centre.