A demonstration by Moviment Graffitti outside the Hal Safi detention centre drew attention to the situation of five migrants who were detained, despite building their lives in Malta over a span of years in which they paid taxes and worked legally.

Christine Cassar from Moviment Graffitti said that the detainees, two of whom have been in Malta 17 years, worked legally, built a life in Malta and never caused any trouble yet were taken from their place of work "as criminals" which shocked their colleagues. "We hoped that this was a mistake, but we were wrong," one activist said.

The activist said that this is an "absurd" situation since every year thousands of foreigners are brought to Malta to work, yet the five detained Ethiopians were seen to be "excessive". She said that this is a great injustice to these people, their families and communities who have been left to live in a state of uncertainty and fear.

The activist said that these raids are the product of a "badly-thought" policy, costing taxpayers "incalculable" expenses to deport five migrants to draw attention away from the problems involving Identita' at the moment. They called for the immediate release of the five and the cessation of raids, including the fear they spread, as well as regularising migrants who have been in Malta for a long time and recognition of their contribution to the country.

Maria Pisani said that though it may appear to be a matter of "border control", said it is not the case, and is rather an "illusion of control where there is none." She pointed out that the migrants are part of the community, some of which still remember the Maltese Lira, before citing a government press release on Special Residence permits (SRA's) which acknowledged the lives built by migrants in Malta and would be a policy to "fix a system that has been broken for far too long". She also cited the Minister for Home Affairs in irony who said on Monday prioritising the needs of workers such as sustainability.

Employer testimonies of the detainees' model behaviour at work and the disgrace of their arrests were also read out, which drew attention to the fact that the migrants have nothing to go back to and are the victims of a system that "shows muscles with the weak". The president of the Ethiopian community in Malta also spoke saying that Malta isn't only his home, but that of his son too before thanking all those present.