From Mr A. A. Camilleri

I do not know what kind of democracy we practise in these islands. Members of the Armed Forces and the Police Corps, even when they are off duty, should not be allowed to attend political meetings organised by far Right movements according to some people. Insults are heaped on people who frequent such meetings or who give some support to these movements.

The objectors want to discourage the people from taking part in such activities, but some of them are not averse to write or take part in TV shows which discuss such movements and their activities. The media seems to believe that it knows what is best for the people and the latter should leave such matters alone and let the media, the wise and all-knowing media, deal with them.

I rarely watch Maltese TV but I decided to watch Bondiplus last week as it dealt with Norman Lowell’s reactions to the illegal immigrants’ saga.

Let’s leave aside the fact that the presenter was manifestly biased against the extreme Right exponent on the show, bombarding him with a barrage of irrelevant questions.

I wish to ask the other male guest on the programme, why is it wrong to be racist where blacks or Arabs are concerned (it is wrong of course, I wholeheartedly agree), but it is alright to be vitriolic where the Italians are concerned (and don’t tell me it’s only in sport, excuse the pun)? Isn’t his antipathy towards our neighbours to the north a form of racism? Or can we want all choose with whom we want to be racist?

Incidentally, how sincere are those who claim that they are ready to accept our uninvited illegal guests as they are? How many have asked to take them into their homes, feed them, give them shelter and a decent life? How many would accept with open arms the disclosure by their daughter that she has fallen in love with and intends to marry one of these unfortunates (some of whom are undoubtedly criminals)? How many are ready to pay more tax so that these boat people, who never seem to stop coming, can be accommodated in decent quarters and be given better food and clothing? How many are ready to accept the way of life and culture of these people, who soon enough (as we have seen happening in UK, France, Italy and other countries) will impose them on our country?

What will we do when, after giving these illegal immigrants freedom from detention, the right to work and to impose their culture on us, they overwhelm us completely? Knowing the Maltese, those who are most vociferous in their defence will be the first to denounce the authorities for being lenient and weak when that happens.

Here I make an appeal to those who like to compare these boat people with Maltese migrants of the past to Australia, Canada, the USA. Please stop making such comparisons. Maltese who emigrated to those countries had to go through vigorous and lengthy medical, social and ethnic tests before they were given visas to enter those countries. They did not enter those countries clandestinely after destroying their official documents which could identify them.

None of the countries that received our co-nationals would have tolerated the abuse of their systems and customs. Had our migrating compatriots turned to abusive protests and criminal acts during their undoubtedly miserable and struggling early years in their countries of adoption, they would have been thrown out unceremoniously and deported back to Malta.

Another silly assertion made is that similar incidents to the one at Safi will turn Malta into another Auschwitz or Dachau. To compare Malta to Nazi concentration camps is both ludicrous and absurd, if it were not insulting and tragic to the Maltese nation. Please stop this ridiculous hysteria.

Having said all this, I do not want to give the impression that I am some fan of Norman Lowell. Although, in my modest opinion, he has some good ideas, most of his views are unacceptable to me. Moreover, his stooping down to making derogatory remarks about a person’s physical peculiarities or associating one’s surname with a type of pizza is rather infantile and lacks seriousness.

A solution to the serious problems created for Malta by these illegal immigrants will not be found by giving them the freedom to move about the country or by giving them work, as these would create fresh social, ethnic, economic and work problems. Nor would it be found by adopting the measures which suggested by Mr Lowell. These measures are definitely unacceptable and unthinkable.

We need the help and cooperation of the EU and of countries like Libya, from where most of these boat people embark for Europe, if we are ever to hope for a successful conclusion to this dilemma not of our own making.

A. A. Camilleri

SLIEMA