Migration is one of the oldest human activities. From the beginning of time, people, to survive, have been forced to leave their place of origin to avoid pestilence, starvation or war.
In the last century, many Maltese had to emigrate to faraway places to seek a better future when the local economy could not provide enough jobs for the growing population.
Today we are on the receiving end of migration, as both regular and irregular migrants seek to improve their lot by working in the local economy.
Times of Malta recently featured the story of Samuel Maker, a south Sudanese migrant who fled the war in his country. He traversed the Sahara and then risked his life again by crossing to Europe by boat.
The bravery of Maker confirms the strength of the human spirit when it dreams the impossible dream, even when the chances of success are minimal.
Maker’s dream is to educate himself and possibly qualify as a doctor. He fled his country from an overwhelming desire to survive and build a better life for himself.
But his sights have always been set higher: he is prepared to do whatever it takes to get a good education. He knows that educational achievement is a critical success factor in life.
The story of Maker is about the triumph of hope and achievement against the odds.
It is an antidote to the multitude of reports carried in the media about the cynical abuse of power and culture of corruption. But there are many on the fringes of society who worry about more basic challenges, such as the need to put food on the table or improve their quality of life.
These stories tend to go under the radar. Thankfully, there are NGOs like the Jesuit Refugee Service that work on the coalface of the world of the marginalised in our community. Maker’s story shows how critically important these organisations are to make the challenges of the weakest in our society that little bit more bearable.
Much more needs to be done to help migrants and other marginalised members of today’s society achieve their dreams.
Some migrants take up any job on offer so long as they earn some money to buy themselves and their families basic food and shelter. These are often the ones who are exploited and offered precarious conditions of work.
Others, like Maker, aim to get a degree or enter a profession even if the obstacles in their way are extremely daunting.
It is up to our political leaders to work with NGOs to help migrants live in dignity with the hope of eventually becoming productive members of society.
Investing in their education is one sure way to achieve this integration in a reasonable time.
Sadly, the EU has not had a successful integration policy, both for regular and irregular immigrants from third world countries. Controlling irregular migration will, of course, always be a critical priority because Europe cannot integrate all the migrants who want to settle in countries that are already facing significant economic challenges.
But the reality is that what most European countries, including Malta, are facing is the integration of migrants who are already part of local communities. These migrants often do not have any political clout. Their aspirations and ambitions are a very low priority for political leaders.
The best way to uphold European values is to define an EU-wide integration policy for those migrants who are now members of our communities.