Alternattiva Demokratika has expressed its solidarity with police and army personnel injured this week during incidents at Safi detention centre.

Issuing a strong condemnation of the violent incidents that led to the injuries, AD gave its full support to any criminal prosecution to be taken “against the minority of immigrants instigating this violence”. The party called for a full account of the injuries sustained by all those involved in the incidents to be made public.

AD also called on the European Union to express, in a concrete manner, the solidarity it should be showing to a member state on the front line of the global irregular migration crisis.

“The EU has been procrastinating for too long on this to be taken seriously any more, and we expect more concrete measures to be taken to support Malta in this regard. The EU’s Frontex measures mentioned in the media today are very welcome but remain a drop in the ocean – addressing the symptoms but not the causes of this mass migration,” said AD in a press statement in the wake of Tuesday’s incidents.

Malta’s Green party also urged the government to “withdraw its misguided policy of lengthy detention for immigrants” and reiterated its position that having a shorter period of detention of up to six months would “drastically reduce the unnecessary tension that has escalated out of control in the army and police detention camps and reduce unnecessary risk to which both personnel and detainees are currently exposed”.

AD said it was also concerned about comments made by the Journalists Action Committee regarding the authorities’ attitude toward the media.

“It is at such times of high tension that the commitment of the authorities to freedom of the press is tested,” AD said in a statement. “It is to be noted also that had the media been allowed regular and normal access to the detention camps all such incidents could be avoided since media attention would not be a rare and precious commodity in the eyes of detainees nor perceived by the armed forces to be inflammatory in times of crisis.”