Soldiers in Malta were forced to use teargas on Tuesday to quell a riot by immigrants at a detention centre, dpa reported. Around 100 African migrants started a fire inside the centre, calling for their release, an army spokesman said. Reporters at the Safe detention camp heard the immigrants protesting against what they called the "inhuman" living conditions. Policemen in riot gear were pelted with stones and smashed furniture as they turned up at the detention camp to calm down the situation. Detention camp head Brian Gatt said nobody was injured in the riot. The protest broke out after a number of asylum claims were rejected by the Maltese authorities, Gatt said. The migrants, all of whom reached Malta from neighbouring Libya, are now facing deportation to their countries of origin, mainly in the Horn of Africa. The small Mediterranean island says it cannot cope with the number of asylum-seekers fleeing Libya.
