From Mr C. Camilleri

It is disgusting that many regular contributors to the local newspapers offend their fellow Maltese by labelling them as racists.

I cannot see any reason why they persist in tarnishing the reputation of their fellow compatriots when they know like anybody else that the attitude of the Maltese towards illegal immigrants is no different to other Europeans. All Europeans are against having such a great number of foreigners in their midst. Recent elections in various countries show growing support for the anti immigration parties.

Our past should make us proud of the way we have always treated and welcomed foreigners to our island. We have had the Indians in our midst for a long time now and they have integrated well with us. We also have quite a large number of Chinese who also are doing well. We have hundreds of Arabs, especially Libyans, besides other nationalities. So how can anyone call the Maltese racists when facts clearly show that this is not the case? Is this not just an easy way for the goody goodies to back their weak arguments by damaging the reputation of the Maltese?

The opposition to illegal immigrants is not based on racism but just on common sense. Malta is a densely populated country with limited resources. Any great influx of foreigners imposes a great strain on our financial and human resources, and in this case on our health services too. Most of these illegal immigrants cannot in any way be integrated into our society because of their culture, language and other obvious reasons. They are a great burden on the Maltese who are already burdened with taxes. Malta is too small to accept immigrants in great numbers wherever they come from.

Having such a great influx of these people can also have great bearing on our way of living. This is happening in many European countries. Belatedly, they became aware of this happening and regulations are being enacted to regulate/minimise the number of these immigrants.

The majority of the Europeans oppose illegal immigrants and would like to send them back home. It is only the politicians who go against the wishes of the majority seem to be happy with the present situation.

Carmel Camilleri

PAOLA