The decision to convene a national conference on irregular immigration earlier this week was positive and many interesting points were raised, but it is not simply enough to talk.

Now that a great many ideas, proposals and suggestions have been made, it is time to gather them up and hammer out an across-the-board policy on the issue. While it is obvious that not everyone will agree with everything that has been suggested, we must, as a nation, come to terms with the fact that irregular immigration is a problem and that we have to deal with it.

The fact that the government and the opposition seem to share similar views on the subject is already an important factor and we should not let the momentum that has been gained peter out. Now that we have the ideas and proposals in hand, the government must act fast in drawing up a feasible plan of action. It would indeed be a shame if so many valuable ideas went to waste.

One of the issues on which there was almost unanimous agreement was the proposed phasing out of Armed Forces and Police personnel at detention centres. Police officers and soldiers are not the ideal custodians for frustrated asylum-seekers. One must bear in mind that irregular immigrants, for whatever reason, have risked life and limb to search for a better life.

One cannot imagine the dissatisfaction that these people must experience once they find out that they are not on mainland Europe, but on our tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea. Their frustration continues to grow once they are put in detention and some of them take it out on their custodians – the police and the AFM.

Phasing this current practice out will not happen overnight, as some might imagine, but if dedicated and specially trained people are brought in as replacements, the situation will improve.

What we are all guilty of sometimes is thinking that these people do not deserve to be treated well because they entered our country without identification documents. While stating that the detention policy is the right way of dealing with these people when they arrive, we must ensure that the facilities available to them are decent and that it does not take too long to process their applications for asylum.

There is, however, another issue that needs addressing – religion and faith. It is a known fact that religious differences can stir up very hot situations. If people with different religious beliefs are kept in close proximity for a substantial length of time, you are asking for trouble. The government should try and bear this in mind when grouping asylum seekers together in detention.

Another issue that must be tackled is that of racism. We must embark on an education campaign to try and get rid of it as quickly as possible before it is allowed to escalate.

While people have every right to be worried about growing unemployment and the burden and strain on the country’s finances – nobody has any right whatsoever to discriminate against people because of the colour of their skin.

The arrival of so many irregular immigrants over the past year has unfortunately stirred up racist feelings among us. What we must never forget is that we are dealing with human beings here. They have feelings, needs, wants and aspirations. We cannot lock them up and keep them in sub-standard conditions for months on end. We must give them the dignity they deserve and once we do that, we might see a change in their attitude towards us.

Having said that, if they are living in our country, they should respect our laws, customs, traditions and our Maltese way of life. There are no quick-fix solutions but we can improve matters dramatically.