Do you remember Muscat's speech on the “mountain” back in March? It was Freedom Day and he had said that he will no longer allow children in detention centres. There was so much passion and emotion in his speech that he might have let a tear roll down his cheek as he said this.

Of course, this speech had nothing to do with the fact that two members of his then cabinet were resigning at the time. Neither was it yet another way of distracting the media from the hot political issues surrounding the resignations.

From the Opposition we had seriously questioned the Prime Minister's honesty when delivering his speech in Vittoriosa. On several occasions, particularly in Parliament during question time, both Muscat and Mallia had said that there were no children in detention. By saying he would not allow this procedure to continue, Muscat had inadvertently admitted that we were right, there were children in detention after all.

Political bargain?

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and once again there is a manipulation of public opinion through another unprecedented decision. The media “find out” that a group of immigrants, including a good number of children were taken into detention but not in a detention centre. These families were taken to the Trade Fair Grounds in Naxxar.

What a cheap trick! Did they think that the NGOs, who work so hard with the immigrants, would simply accept this because officially the Trade Fair is not a detention centre? In what way is the Trade Fair any different from a detention centre? Did Muscat and Mallia think this could be a good, cheap, political bargain?

The Trade Fair has very little sanitary facilities. In the summer heat there isn't enough circulation of fresh air. The small windows are very close to the high ceilings. If there are any showers, they cannot cater for the close to one hundred persons who were taken there. The building was designed as an exhibition hall and is being used as a counting hall during elections. By no stretch of the imagination is the building adequate for hosting any person, let alone families with children.

The Selective Process

Not all the immigrants who arrived in Malta on Thursday, August 28, were taken to the Trade Fair. In choosing who goes to a detention centre or the Trade Fair, Muscat and Mallia are showing very worrying signs of a repeated selection process. This is not the first time that Muscat's Government was selective with migrants. Last year, in a similar case, Syrians were given a different treatment from the darker African immigrants.

A selective process is wrong. It is reminiscent of extremism. Such selective processes continue to re-enforce racist traits which need to be cooled off and not rekindled. Muscat will say he did this for the children. Mallia will say it is a matter of national security. And where is Helena Dalli in all this, what does she have to say?

LN 76

This week parents received a letter from the Education Department asking for information about their children. Such information includes information on specific health conditions. Parents of children in private schools and church schools are up in arms. This is exactly what many of us have been warning about.

By sending this letter to parents, the Education Department is proving Evarist Bartolo was not being honest when he said that Legal Notice 76 had been suspended. He is still using this legal notice to collect data. It is also ironic that many parents received this letter on the eve of the closing date for the consultation period on the same legal notice 76.

Once again this government is using yet another selective process. The signs are there and we cannot simply ignore them.

Claudette Buttigieg MP – [email protected], twitter: @ButClaudette