From Mr F. Farrugia

I write this letter with trepidation I have never felt before, since the last thing I want people to say of me is that I am in any way a racist. In actual fact, I have always been at the forefront, both in your newspaper as well as in other English-speaking media, to defend the immigrants’ plight in relation to what we, as a country, have to offer. And I will continue to do so, simply because these immigrants are human beings like myself; I wouldn’t even condone leaving an animal on a boat at sea without sending help to it, let alone a fellow human being, of whatever creed or race.

However, I cannot refrain from taking note of the problems our country is going through, as well as the geographical and physical problems our tiny island presents.

I also take note, together with the rest of the Maltese people, of the huge and worrying number of immigrants who are now on our island.

I am also aware of the enormous number of people hailing from Arab countries and the consequences that such huge numbers present to the native population.

While I personally continue to dismiss any form of racism towards such people, I simply find letters like the one written by Ms L Camilleri entitled “It is nobler to share”, as worrying and impractical (TMIS, 31 July).

Worrying because we simply have almost nothing left to share. Unlike other countries, we cannot boast of open spaces and areas we can offer these people so that they can settle in this country. Our minute size, both physical as well as social, simply forbids it.

The large number of immigrants on our island has now become an acute emergency. Yet, it seems that the government simply has no idea how to tackle this problem. I personally see no reason why the government does not send these people back to the country they left from.

Obviously, the good people in this country are not advocating that these immigrants are left to their own devices in the open sea. International law also forbids it. However, what many of these good people are saying is that something MUST be done.

From what I read in the newspapers, it appears that various foreign authorities such as the British Prime Minister, an Italian minister as well as various heads at the EU say they understand the quandary this country is in– yet, at the end of the day, nothing is being done to solve the problem.

As I see it, it’s not money or resources that the country needs to solve this problem – we only need to have the political will that, come what may, we send these people back to where they came from.

Or have we really lost our sovereignty given that other countries, such as Italy, are forbidding us to solve this domestic problem? Do we need permission from other countries to dictate how our country should be run?

Franco Farrugia

GUARDAMANGIA