It came as no surprise that the entire Ħal Far open centre was put under quarantine to try to contain the spread of COVID-19 after a number of residents contracted the virus. What’s surprising is that it didn’t happen earlier.

It is the result of a policy which for several years promoted the ghettoisation of (black) asylum seekers and refugees.

It is the result of promoting policies to encourage them to live in crammed substandard containers, which is certainly not conducive to the social distancing or isolation measures we have been instructed to follow.

It is the result of forcing people to live together in unhygienic conditions and with no real freedom.

It was therefore a matter of time before we had to come to terms with the fact they were more exposed to the virus than most of us.

Now that the inevitable has happened, and the army has been called in to keep 24-hour guard of the open centre, we need to ensure the response is grounded in solidarity and protection.

We trust that the health authorities will not discriminate between those who receive care and support and that equal care is given to the Ħal Far residents as well as the AWAS staff.

We trust the authorities are taking all mitigation measures to stop the potential spread within the walls.

We need to remember that refugees and third country nationals often lack the security most of us take for granted.

This includes financial support to the many residents who do labour work, many of whom have been rendered unemployed since Sunday evening.

The authorities need to ensure that those living in the open centre do not fall victim to unscrupulous employers who will take the opportunity to continue exploiting them and not pay them their dues.

Society needs to come together to help an estimated 1,000 residents who often lack basic items on a good day let alone when they are cooped up together for 14 days.

The health minister’s announcement about the open centre on Sunday night was met with an instant barrage of racist and xenophobic comments from social media users who believe refugees should be dealt with like garbage.

There are too many among us who still somewhat believe the virus discriminates between nationals. Ask the Chinese and the Italians among us who have been facing prejudice since the day we heard about COVID-19.

It is also ironic that the new wave of hatred against refugees comes a year to date since Lassana Cisse was murdered at Ħal Far simply because of the colour of his skin.  Marking the tragic anniversary yesterday, Equality Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar underlined that the same coronavirus rules applied to everyone equally and there was no place for racism in our society.

They are words we should heed but once we emerge from the coronavirus crisis, our government should seriously start taking a good look at some form of integration measures which could halt the spread of ghettoisation, stereotyping and racism.

While in the short term the response to disease needs to be led by health experts, it is important to try to make our social welfare systems apply across the board. And that includes each person living in Malta, whether Maltese, Italian, Chinese, American or of African origin.

Many with right-wing sentiments are once again rushing to find scapegoats.

Let’s not allow that to happen.