Editorial

At the National Conference on Illegal Immigration, called by Tonio Borg, then minister responsible for justice and home affairs, four years ago, Martin Scicluna, who had been invited to draw up an independent report on the subject said, inter alia, that illegal immigration was the key foreign policy issue confronting Malta. "Until it is grasped that irregular immigration is the foremost foreign policy challenge facing us today, it will be difficult to find solutions to the security issues we are about to raise," Mr Scicluna had commented.

Except for a brief flurry of diplomatic activity soon after those words were delivered, his warning has largely gone unheeded. Dr Borg is now the Minister for Foreign Affairs but, alas, the efforts by the Foreign Ministry to tackle the issue continue to appear as unfocused and ineffectual as ever. The present Minister for Justice and Home Affairs is left to grapple with the consequences of such inaction alone. Until the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes illegal immigration its paramount foreign policy priority, the situation in Malta is likely to remain unchanged. This country's diplomatic efforts in the EU, Libya and Africa must be stepped up.

The government's response to the growing influx of illegal immigrants into Malta has continued to be one of hope over experience; the hope that by saying little about it publicly, and doing no more than the inescapable minimum to overcome the practical difficulties, the problem would somehow go away. Information about the situation and what the government is doing has been defensive and evidently inadequate.

The cardinal message that there are good efforts in train which will help to ameliorate the position but that the problem - which is a global phenomenon - is incapable of quick or easy resolution by Malta alone has been conspicuously absent or, at best, not communicated clearly enough. As a result, the public is scared and confused and becoming increasingly xenophobic.

The problem is not capable of simple solutions. It is therefore dispiriting that on such a sensitive matter some people who should know better, including politicians, are prepared to play politics. Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has expressed his view that the way to deal with illegal immigration was "to send them back". Columnist Ranier Fsadni reacted to this statement by pointing out that things are not so simple and explaining why.

The situation has not been helped by the Leader of the Opposition, who has been personally briefed by the government on the difficult situation and whose party had previously adopted a responsible bi-partisan approach. He has called for a parliamentary debate on the matter. While there is a need to hold the government to account, it would be indefensible and absolutely wrong if the subject were to be turned into a party-political football.

There is a risk that politicians are themselves panicky and confused and are leading each other around and down a worrying spiral of ignorance. It is therefore all the more important for the public to know the facts. But playing politics with such an issue is not the answer. Rather than have a parliamentary debate, Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat should sit next to each other and square with the public, tell them the size of the problem, what is being done about it and what, realistically, the country can hope to achieve.