Editorial

In lofty terms, the Mediterranean is often compared with a bridge across which cultures and civilisations flow, sometimes peacefully, sometimes aided by force. Others versed in mythology regard it as the offspring of Tethys and the sea-god Oceanus. The Maltese know it simply as the sea that surrounds our island. Today it is, to all intents and purposes, a peaceful sea which genuine asylum seekers cross as refugees from their government or to improve their life in Europe. They often do this at great risk to themselves and some have paid dearly for it, literally, or with their lives. The problem is to make certain of the genuineness of their purpose.

At present, Malta has 651 illegal immigrants. 1,686 came to Malta between July and December, last year; 350 between January and October of this year. It was an eye-opener and something of a shock to learn from the Police Commissioner that some 25 police stations are closed to allow nearly 100 policemen to man the centres where these immigrants are detained. This ought to be an untenable situation for Malta, both in the sense that so many of our policemen are not doing their primary job and because our limited resources militate against it. Somehow, therefore, we have to deal with a problem of some proportions, one that is not of our own making.

Detention, most people are prepared to say, is not a solution. Asylum seekers, we have been told by Alvaro Gil-Robles, the European Human Rights Commissioner, are not criminals. These are tidy negatives that we must carefully consider. Some asylum seekers may be criminal and detention may be necessary when the illegal immigrant population becomes too high. Last summer, we witnessed the harsh measures taken by France and Britain to control the problem.

The attitude of Malta, bedevilled by a scarcity of skilled human resources to deal with the problem, by its size and its financial wherewithal, is by comparison lenient.

This does not make our detention centres any pleasanter. If used they must be, then we should make certain that not only are they not "shocking", as Mr Gil-Robles declared. They must be organised as alternative living centres, that is, habitable for those who, in their legitimate or illegitimate bid to flee their country, occupy them. Common decency demands that of us. Above all, however, there is the need to hasten the procedures that will establish the legal or illegal status of the men, women and children and, in this sense, this week's declaration by Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg is welcomed with wide open arms.

That asylum seekers have rights, no sane person denies. Sane people must also affirm that the temporary host country has rights, too. How to marry these so that each party can best be served is not as easy as it is sometimes made out to be; nor, it must be added, is it irredeemably difficult.

The Maltese people, who have risen to the occasion so often when they were asked to help others less fortunate than themselves in one way or another, can help here, too. They should be told what is needed to make detention centres comfortable for those who live in them even as the government takes the necessary steps to beef up the screening process through appropriate structures created for this purpose. No immigrant should be kept here a day longer than necessary, for the sake of his dignity and for ours.