With every boatload of illegal immigrants that comes in, the ineffectiveness of the Frontex mission this summer and the eerie silence of the government in the last month on this issue, it’s now clear that the government has no idea or any plan on how to deal with this alarming situation. In particular, the minister responsible for immigration and home affairs, Dr Tonio Borg, is completely helpless and seems to have given up.

This year we are approaching the 1000 mark of illegal immigrants brought into Malta, if the number has not already been exceeded as summer is only half over. If this were to continue year after year at the same rate, in a few years’ time the number of illegal immigrants will exceed 10,000, or more than five per cent of the population. Repatriation efforts by the government are almost non-existent with only a few token efforts numbering tens or hundreds compared to the thousands coming in. And they will keep on coming.

The pressure the government put on the EU to assist Malta was only half-hearted to start with and has not resulted in any help whatsoever. Not enough pressure is being exerted on the EU by the government, and as a result the EU is ignoring Malta. The image the government projects to the EU is that of a second-class member begging for help, instead of leveraging the power Malta has in the decision making process of the EU. Other countries, like Poland recently, have threatened to block EU summits with their vetoes to force the EU to listen to them. But not this government; it is too weak to act.

It is now clear that Dr Borg is not up to the task and cannot handle this problem. He is not made of the right stuff to face this crisis. He doesn’t have the courage to take tough action. He gives in easily to the unfair and incorrect accusations by foreign media and local NGOs, which don’t have Malta’s interest as their first and foremost priority. He acts like the proverbial ostrich, hiding his head in the sand, occasionally raising it to beg for help, and hoping the problem will solve itself or others will solve it for him. He doesn’t have the right leadership skills to face this problem head on. He has failed the Maltese people.

And with a general election looming, this issue and the inability of the minister concerned, and the government in general, to solve it, I’m sure will be one of the deciding factors that will have the PN register a resounding defeat.

Unfortunately, it may be already too late for Malta.

John Attard

ATTARD