We may not be paying enough attention to what the people out there are saying.

Let us take some opinions, or reactions, from people who wrote in comments on our own website over the recent days.

A correspondent, who signed as ‘Tourist’ wrote: ‘Malta received over 1,500+ asylum seekers in 2016. Out of this 1,300-1,400 MUST have come through Italy because Malta received only a few from the sea and over 100+ through EU-relocation of asylum seekers that Muscat and Labour are fans of.

This 1,300-1,400 asylum seekers could have been PREVENTED from coming to Malta if government had demanded that Italy-Malta ferries thoroughly check IDs before leaving Italy and only let on board only people who have EU ID or visa to travel in EU or a passport from a country to which Malta has given visa-freedom.

Malta could have also demanded that Italy takes these back because EU Dublin agreement has a protocol of returning asylum seekers to the first country even IF they managed to avoid registering their fingerprints or asylum application in there. These asylum seekers come to Malta because it is EASY to get asylum in Malta with Malta giving 83% either asylum or subsidiary protection.’

Next, this same correspondent wrote: ‘Maltese acceptance rate for asylum claims is among the highest in EU at 83% that is why during 2016 Malta lured 1,300-1,400 asylum seekers from Italy because they know that from Malta one gets asylum or subsidiary protection EASILY.

ALL EU-relocations and transferring asylum seekers around in solidarity lures more people to come to Europe in total thereby worsening the situation.

Malta should demand that Italy registers everyone saved at sea and also demand that the ferry company starts thorough ID checks on the Italy-Malta ferries to stop onward movement of asylum seekers from Italy to Malta. Malta should return back to Italy everyone that has come from Italy like EU Dublin agreement allows.

There would be less people coming to Italy if there was NO WAY forward from Italy so Italy's policy of NOT registering all saved at sea as asylum seekers has to be stopped and Italy has to start registering everyone.’

So far, the claims made in these comments have not been officially denied. So we feel we are justified to ask whether it is true that more than 1,500 asylum seekers came to Malta from Italy in 2016. For we have been lulled by the absence of boats bringing migrants to our shores and did not notice that migrants were coming in nevertheless. Not on boats, but legally from Italy. The end result is that the population of asylum seekers in Malta grows bigger and bigger.

There does not seem to have been steps taken by the government of Malta to stem this flood. These people, along with others who come in with a European passport in hand but with no skills to speak of, join the sub-proletariat that is growing by leaps and bounds. These are the people who tend to find work in the waste collection sector, in the building sector, etc. But as more and more come in, there must be less jobs to go round. And thus these unfortunates are pushed into a marginalized life and petty crime is the invariable result.

They are also pushed to take up accommodation in rented places, turning the accommodation and the area in general into slums. We have many such slums around but nobody seems to speak about this reality.

This is a situation that, untreated, spawns populist speech and writing which has now stopped being marginal and is fast becoming mainline.

To refuse to face facts is to stoke fires that may come alive in the coming future.