The “national” conference called to consider the problems arising from a sustained invasion by so-called “illegal migrants” is a positive initiative. The conference was “national” in the sense that it brought together all local interested parties to discuss the many issues involved. Deep down, however, the problem is “international”,

This does not mean that there is no room for appropriate, even urgent, action at a local level. But it is the regional and global aspects that have to be addressed, if (ever) the overall problem is to be defused.

Until recently, Malta had no problem with receiving and helping refugees in flight from persecution and tyranny. Many came to Malta en passant. Others stayed here temporarily. Only a few settled permanently and were assimilated. None were denied our hospitality.

Economic refugees

The waves of migrants that have been coming by the boat-load in the last three years or so are, mostly, in a different class. They are “economic refugees”, driven by misery and hunger, heading for Europe in search of a better life or sheer survival. Most of them were sucked into the slipstream of gangs of illegal traffickers who exploit their misery.

They ended up in Malta, which was neither prepared nor adequately equipped to deal with this kind of emergency. Its administrative, financial, housing and social resources have been under strain.

When things burst at the seams, the consequences are unpredictable and some of them are ugly to behold.

The national conference will, hopefully, lead the way to some local solutions that will mitigate and even eliminate hardships.

It cannot stop the waves of economic migrants crossing the Mediterranean and heading for Europe

It is not possible to anticipate how many will end up in Malta to make our life more difficult in the immediate months to come.

The real problem

The real problem is not so much how to cope with the new arrivals, but to how to stop the waves. The challenge is regional, indeed it is global.

Today, European countries dominate the prosperity league table and form the majority among the top 10 trading nations. The European Union conducts a third of total global trade, if not more. It benefits from a vast intellectual infrastructure and has the most highly-skilled workforce

Neo-Malthusian gloomsters are not in much doubt about the biggest problem that Europe is about to face in the years to come. With Europe a worried bystander, the population in the poor southern part of the world is increasing rapidly – at a rate approximating one billion every 10 years. Throughout Europe, the population is falling and, as it ages, it will depend on a declining workforce.

The greying of Europe coincides with the gradual pauperisation of some of its cities.

Paramount theme

One result of the increasingly skill-based nature of industrial and commercial success is that it is no longer true that, when a country gets wealthier, virtually everyone in it becomes better off. In a globalised world, low-skilled jobs can be done more competitively in developing countries. This will whittle down Europe’s urban workforce – and all of this will widen the gap between rich and poor within Europe as well as outside it.

This will be a paramount theme of public debate in the coming decade, providing fertile ground to populist elements.

In this scenario, Europe cannot afford to let North Africa and other poor regions export their booming populations, in uncontrolled numbers, to its shores, where they will be trapped in resentful squalor with poor, non-working Europeans.

Many are coming round to the view that third-world workers stand a better chance of viable and competitive employment if they can work and live at home. This would be only possible if Europe and other “rich” countries give more help to the world poor not less – and at all costs.

Such help has to be well-managed, deliberately-targeted and sustained to ensure the take-off of feasible projects.

Daunting challenge

The comfort of the richer countries depends in part on their generosity. They must, furthermore, lead the movement to open the markets of developed countries, thereby transferring resources from the pockets of the well-to-do to those of the have-nots.

Europe has not hesitated to face the challenge of assimilating an equally big problem closer to home – namely the poisoning of the eastern part of the continent by more than 40 years of command economics and totalitarian control. However daunting, the challenge has proved to be not insuperable, and the progress achieved so far has been remarkable.

The challenge of world poverty is, by far, much more demanding. It is central to the future of international stability and world peace.

It has been said that “humanity is not impelled on an unstoppable journey to global disaster. We face a challenge to nature, not its imminent demise.” Reason can yet save us.

Take away the spur and the gauntlet of economic struggle, and Europe will lose its euphoric élan and fall prey to incompetence and instability.

The world’s richest countries have recognised for the first time, (at the recent G7 meeting in London) their responsibility to alleviate world poverty. This is a positive development which will take time to yield results, assuming that this global development is to be effectively followed up

Assuming that it will – as indeed it must – progress will necessarily be gradual.

In the immediate years ahead, therefore, poverty will continue to afflict humanity and the waves of economic refugees will continue to disturb the Mediterranean waters whatever happens

This is a reality which, like Mount Everest, is “there”. It defies solution.

The way forward is to focus on the regional scale of this problem and to search for practical initiatives in that context.

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