Illegal migration and racism

The survey conducted by Professor Mario Vassallo (The Sunday Times, August 14) has added to the public debate on how Malta is to meet the ever-increasing waves of illegal immigrants reaching our shores. Unfortunately it has not added any enlightenment to our problems, and the reactions to it have not always helped either.

If I were to say that Arabs, Israelis, Indians or any other races or nationalities have this or that characteristic, I am sure that I would be accused of generalising unfairly. Yet, it seems quite acceptable to call Maltese racists.

The justification is a survey which, scientific as it may have been, can only be a snapshot depicting a situation in a segment of the population at a given time from a particular angle. That survey lacked one fundamental piece of information and that is the reason behind the attitudes expressed.

The clash of civilisations is a reality, much as some would like to deny it. When this clash assumes levels that cannot be easily controlled, it is bound to give rise to concern and fear, which could generate intolerance. When the clash is imposed by one side on another, especially a foreign one, resentment is bound in increase.

Persons who leave a country clandestinely to enter another in an equally clandestine way are performing an illegal act. Since this is migration, these people can justly be called "illegal migrants". They may also be genuine refugees or asylum-seekers, but they are still illegal migrants. Using euphemisms to hide the truth is not conducive to a solution.

It is equally unhelpful to give a partial picture of the problem by glossing over the fact that this movement is in the hands of criminals who get rich and risk the lives of their 'clients', who somehow find the money for the trip.

Comparisons made with the shipwreck of St Paul and the controlled migration from Malta after the war trivialise the debate. I would have thought that the variety of Maltese surnames and physical features are ample evidence that racism has not been a dominant feature of our country.

We are ordinary human beings and we have prejudices, and there are elements in our midst who are racists. We cannot convert these people by minimising or obfuscating the problems that illegal migration is creating in Malta.

We should condemn without any reservation those who advocate inhuman pseudo-solutions, be it from ignorance of Malta's obligations as a responsible member of the international community or from sheer racism, but we should be careful not to promote their views through inordinate publicity.

Let us be clear. Malta may not refuse to help people in danger at sea in areas for which we are responsible. Nor may we aid and abet illegal immigrants to proceed to their desired destination. Our efforts to stem the flow of illegal migrants cannot be of a military character as if we were repulsing a military invader. The solution is a diplomatic one involving all the countries and the international organisations concerned.

My appeal to them is stop preaching to us and give a helping hand.

Foreign Minister Michael Frendo's letter to the UNHCR, as reported in the press, goes in the right direction. Perhaps it could have been written earlier.

Those who look at this international problem from the receiving end should be clear in their mind on the role of the international community in stemming the flow at its point of origin.

How is it that nationals of former colonies are fleeing their liberated homeland to seek a new life in the countries of their former colonial masters? How do we curb the forces that are oppressing these fugitives without being accused of neo-colonialism or interfering in the internal affairs of other countries?