Migrants' travel documents

I refer to Joe Borg's letter (May 9), How To Handle Irregular Migrants.

One of the facts listed was that "According to the Commissioner of Police, nearly all immigrants land here without identity or travel documents". Mr Borg goes on to write that the criminal law element of landing illegally in Malta and, in particular, the deliberate destruction of identity and travel documents must be amply shown to be punishable by law before they land here.

I can assure Mr Borg and like-minded individuals that government agencies where one can apply for identity and travel documents are non-existent in villages. (I have lived and worked in African countries for 16 years, so I do have some idea of existing conditions). Villagers would have to travel to the nearest town which could be hundreds of kilometres away. Then there are those who don't even possess birth certificates (even in the towns), let alone any documents of identification.

Now, picture, if you can, a perilous situation, such as civil wars or systematic persecution and/or torture, from which a daring few decide to escape, alone or with their families. How can one expect them to have any travel documents? And for those who decide to leave their homes in search of a better life, for economic reasons, particularly when their very livelihood is being threatened due to natural disasters, such as severe drought of long standing or regular widespread flooding and/or disease, there is little hope of their application for travel documents being processed without interminable delays - not a question of days or weeks but, more likely, years - unless they have the means to pay the authorities' heavy bribes.

From the above, it would seem obvious that they could not deliberately destroy what they don't already possess, as inferred in Mr Borg's letter. Granted, there are those few who do possess the required documentation and do destroy it but the reason for this is so as not to reveal their country of origin for fear of being sent back and risk facing harsh treatment or even execution on their return.

So, out of the Christian compassion that Mr Borg alludes to in his letter - albeit in a different context - let us not hastily judge and condemn irregular migrants for not presenting any documentation when they end up on our shores, without first getting to know the full facts.