Shame!

The behaviour of some members of the armed forces and their officers in handling the peaceful demonstration by a group of immigrants at Safi last week was shameful and the culprits must be swiftly identified and decisively punished.

This incident is to be condemned. But the Maltese authorities need be aware of the fact that many strata of Maltese society are penetrated by racists and that racism often goes unchecked.

As an EU member state, Malta is obliged to combat racism and xenophobia - something which it is not doing. Politicians of all sides have been stoking up people's unfounded fears of foreigners.

We need not go far back in time to uncover one example after another of leading Labour politicians arguing against EU membership by trying to convince their supporters that we would be invaded by foreigners. The European Movement (Malta) argued time and again that this shortsighted line would have a lasting and damaging effect on Maltese society.

More recently, prominent Nationalist politicians have not held back from making similar pronouncements, particularly on the immigration issue. Anti-immigrant comments in GWU newspapers frequently find resonance among key Nationalist spokesmen, probably misled by an urge to be "politically correct".

On the immigration issue Government and Opposition have repeatedly fallen short of strongly defending European values and upholding human rights. Worse still, they seem oblivious to the malaise spreading in the forces of law and order in the country.

This is visible to all, except to those who are there to oversee them. The worst effects of this creeping racism in the forces of law and order could perhaps have been countered by giving proper training to those dealing directly with immigrants and immigrant issues.