The end of World War II brought in its wake the greatest population upheaval in European history as millions of Germans were expelled or fled from Eastern Europe. Surviving Jews returning from concentration camps found they were unwelcome and had to find a place where to live somewhere else.
Nearly two million Poles were forcibly transferred from eastern areas of Poland that had been annexed by Russia. Half a million Ukrainians, Belarusians and others were deported from Poland to the Soviet Union. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Croats, and others, fearful of reprisals for wartime collaboration, fled westwards from all over Eastern Europe. Let Europe not forget that its people were once refugees and that the way forward is living together not separation.
Human decency dictates that first we must purify our thoughts and will from fear and contempt. We should aspire to embrace all humanity and nature and the world. When we take care of refugees, we are taking care of the natural environment because by improving their lot, there is less chance of the natural resources being plundered.
Secondly, we should have the attitude of Jose Andres, the chef who fed Puerto Ricans in time of need. Our attitude should be to help proactively and not shy away from responsibility.
Thirdly, it is not real solidarity when only Maltese cancer patients' children and ALS patients are taken care of. It is a warped kind of solidarity which excludes people in need coming from war zones, extreme misery and hunger and an abuse of human rights.
Joe Portelli
Nadur