Editorial

One has nothing but praise for the way the Home Affairs Ministry, the Armed Forces, the police, the medical and paramedical staff of St Luke's Hospital, the St John Ambulance and Red Cross volunteers, and all those involved have handled the rescue of 251 illegal immigrants from their 20-metre boat which was sinking 44 miles to the south of Malta.

The heart-breaking plea in broken English, radioed from the boat to the AFM's Emergency Co-ordination Centre early on Thursday morning - "Help us, we are sinking!" - was met with an immediate response, and an AFM aircraft, although hampered by the fact that the boat had no means to relay its position, eventually managed to locate it about four hours later and to call for help.

To the credit of all those involved, including some foreign vessels in the area, which provided some protection, all those aboard the sinking boat were saved and taken aboard the Maltese patrol-boat, the P. 31, in very difficult sea conditions. They included 63 women and 21 children, the youngest seven months old.

The 'advance notice' given ensured that when the illegal immigrants eventually arrived in Grand Harbour at around 10 p.m., exhausted and sea-sick but all safe, the complex process of giving them a medical examination, giving them food and water and even clothing, in some cases, and then providing them with accommodation or hospital treatment, went without a hitch. Stringent security measures were also taken, but these proved to be unnecessary.

The rescue of these poor souls - doubly poor, since they are not only trying to escape grinding poverty or strife in their own countries (just under 200 of them are from Eritrea, one of the world's poorest countries) but in their despair they become victims of greedy traffickers in human beings, who take all their life savings, and practically abandon them to their fate in trying to reach an unfamiliar land and the hope of a better life - has again put the spotlight on what has become a major problem afflicting the Mediterranean.

Malta is no longer immune. The arrival of 208 illegal immigrants last March in Gozo, where they landed after their boat ran out of fuel, the near-miss of another boat packed with 163 illegal immigrants which passed close to Malta and eventually entered Pozzallo in Sicily just two weeks ago, and now last Thursday's influx of 251 souls, show that the island is involved "up to its neck".

Indeed, the presence of over 500 illegal immigrants here - although the island was not their original destination - is straining our resources to the limit. Detention and temporary accommodation centres run by the police and the army are full. Besides, the immigrants need to be fed, clothed, medically treated and otherwise cared for.

The plight of these people cannot but strike a chord in a country known for its hospitality and its Christian tradition. This is where solidarity can and must be expressed in a tangible way. But Malta simply cannot cope with potentially limitless numbers of illegal immigrants. There is no alternative to repatriation.

In the meantime, Government is fast running out of premises where to accommodate illegal immigrants, even if temporarily. One therefore understands Minister Tonio Borg's appeal to voluntary organisations to continue offering their help in various ways to deal with this problem.

One would here also mention the Church, which has done and is doing a lot, through its Emigrants (or Immigrants) Commission to give these persons dignity and a means of livelihood. The Church and religious orders could make available convents, monasteries and orphanages which are now greatly underutilised, although one understands that these premises have to be adapted for such a purpose, not least from the security aspect. Naturally, one would also need an adequate number of carers for these people.

The problem of illegal immigration is clearly now much greater than any single (receiving) country can cope with. This indeed was one of the reasons cited by Giuliano Amato, the former Italian socialist prime minister who is now vice-chairman of the Convention of the Future of Europe, in a public talk in Valletta last Tuesday, when he explained why the European Union was necessary: it is to enable its members to deal collectively - and therefore more efficiently - with massive problems like illegal immigration.

Malta has already signed a bilateral agreement with Italy providing for the return of illegal immigrants. It has also agreed to resort to the fingerprinting of all illegal immigrants, as is being done in Italy. As a member of the EU Malta would be in a much stronger position to take action in dealing with the problem, which can be minimised if the countries of North Africa (Libya in this case) take more effective action in dealing with human trafficking on their territory.