The riots in Ħal Far and its consequences have shocked me. Actually, I should rephrase that. The riots themselves were not shocking. They were predictable and if anything, occurred far later than I expected. Ħal Far is a time bomb just waiting to explode.

You cannot expect to keep people locked in miserable rat-infested prison-like conditions indefinitely, for no crime other than escaping their country, without expecting a revolt.

Treating these people in a heavy-handed manner for a minor misdemeanour is a sure way to invite trouble. Apparently, this is exactly what triggered off the riots.

No, what shocked me was the reaction of the Maltese people and the authorities. The level of hate speech on the social media and on the streets was staggering.

What was also staggering was the reaction to this hate speech by the authorities. They simply decided that taking action against these people is a “witch hunt” and instead inaugurated a ‘Hate Crime and Speech Unit’.

I am sure that following this brilliant move, flying around on brooms is likely to end up in a quick prosecution. Asking for the lynching of people of colour though, is perfectly fine.

What was even more shocking is the alleged behaviour of the prison authorities with the people who initiated the riot.

Though the exact details of what actually happened still need to be clarified, if these prisoners were actually subjected to this sort of treatment, this is very reminiscent of some of the darkest concentration camps in certain totalitarian countries.

Empathy seems to be in very short supply in this country

While our NGOs protested against this behaviour, again people were spewing out hate speech in the media and on the streets.

They found the NGOs’ behaviour disgraceful, they thought that the prison guards should be given free rein in their treatment of these migrants and that anybody speaking up for the rights of these people is totally misguided.

They think that if we treat these people abominably, we will discourage other migrants from approaching these shores.

How stupid can these people get? All we are doing here is sowing hatred and mistrust. And we will definitely reap a terrible harvest over the next few years.

How do you think the friends and relatives of these immigrants are feeling right now?

Have we never heard of the race riots of Ferguson, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Charlotte in the US and Brixton, Bradford and Birmingham in the UK?

Do we need to go through these same mistakes? Did maltreating people of different ethnic origins ever drive them out of these countries? Do we want to create a civil war in our own country?

Treating people badly is a sure recipe for getting migrants to hate us. Healing that hatred and mistrust can take generations.

I cannot appeal to the Maltese people to empathise with these people. Some of them have been through very harsh times with torture being a recurring theme in their life stories.

A man walks past a container at the Ħal Far open centre, in the morning after a riot there. Photo: Jonathan BorgA man walks past a container at the Ħal Far open centre, in the morning after a riot there. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Empathy seems to be in very short supply in this country. I am not here to discuss whether these migrants did the right thing in escaping to Malta.

That is not the scope of this article. No, instead of empathy, I appeal to the egoistical and self-preserving instincts of our people. Do not start a war in our own country.

We would like to live in peace without the fear of civil disobedience, riots, pillaging, destruction of property and murder.

In order to avoid these scenarios we need to respect these people and their cultures. We cannot employ them only in the lowest-paying jobs on the island.

Every time I notice that all our garbage collectors are people of colour, I hang my head in shame. Why do we think these people are stupid and only capable of only the most menial jobs? Many of them are much better educated than us.

Hate speech dehumanises people. It’s us and them. Dehumanisation leads to the creation of monsters within our minds and this stokes fear.

Fear leads to violence. The targeted group often respond with hate speech and violence of their own. That is why hate speech is such a serious crime.

When we talk to these people, we realise how human they are, how they have the same likes and dislikes. Their children are just as beautiful and wonderful as our own.

Only when we accept this and treat these people as our own brothers and sisters can we live in peace and without fear.

Mario Stellini is medical doctor and gastroenterologist.

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