Migrants being kept at the Safi detention centre are once again demanding their freedom.

Several of them are hanging banners and climbing on roofs to protest their detention.

It is not the first time that migrants are calling upon the authorities to release them. "We are not criminals," some of them shouted.

Police offices, members of the Civil Protection Department and the Armed Forces of Malta were on site.

A group of NGOs recently raised concerns with regards to Malta’s treatment of rescued persons in the Initial Reception Centre and in Safi Detention Centre, noting that they have already expressed their concerns regarding the “lawfulness of the detention of those who have been detained on medical grounds for weeks on end”.

“Beyond this, both centres are over-crowded and living conditions are abysmal. Whilst we fully appreciate Malta’s challenges in receiving relatively large numbers of asylum-seekers in a short time, we cannot endorse an approach that leaves people locked up for weeks, without a valid reason at law, and treats them with such disregard for their humanity.

“It is simply unacceptable that this approach is tolerated by a European Union built on values of solidarity, humanity and dignity.”

The statement was signed by: Aditus Foundation,  African Media Association, Blue Door English, Integra Foundation, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Malta Emigrants’ Commission, Migrant Women Association, Moviment Graffitti, Office of the Dean, Faculty of Education, SOS Malta and Syrian Solidarity in Malta.