The whole issue has been hijacked and turned into a racist movement by the notorious loony fame-seekers while, on the other hand, an army of do-gooders persisted in misunderstanding the reality and pleading for a humanitarian approach to the many illegal immigrants housed in very makeshift and unsavoury closed centres.

Public opinion has been silenced because the two main parties have chosen to keep their heads firmly buried in the ground amid futile appeals for a stronger Frontex and equally futile appeals for EU solidarity.

Meanwhile, most people think that the problem lies solely with those who arrive by sea, the boat people, whereas the experience of other countries such as Italy teaches us that only around 15 per cent of illegal immigrants arrive in small boats – the majority come in as tourists on a tourist visa but stay on.

Consequently, we only have an indication of the dimensions of the problem – hearsay evidence, anecdotal snippets – but definitely far greater than the number of people who arrive in boats. All around us, we see evidence of people entering the country practically unhindered. This is not a racist comment, even though the mix in our streets has undergone a radical change, in some places more than others. It would be unfair, though, to focus on the coloured people while the non-coloured are allowed to flow in like long-lost friends or relatives.

Most people have no idea how heterogeneous some Maltese towns and villages have become. A school, such as the primary school at St Paul’s Bay has children coming from as many as 30 nationalities.

Is this change a good one or a bad one? Those who argue for what they call the purity of the Maltese bloodstock do not know what they’re talking about, because the Maltese nation is itself a mix of races, cultures and derivations.

But, and it is a very big but, the derivations that make up the Maltese nation have come together in a unique way to form what we all know as the Maltese identity. It is precisely this that risks being submerged under this tidal wave of people flocking to Malta. Our contention is that it should be managed better, that there are some very dubious practices being allowed and even fostered, and that if we are not careful we risk even worse consequences.

It is indubitable that there are some very negative processes at play. Not only is there ample evidence of networks of people traffickers both here and in the countries whence the illegals come, as well as in the countries where the illegals would want to go, but there is also evidence of other processes at work.

There is evidence that people coming from some particular countries form their own network in Malta and somehow manage to bring in more and more relatives with them, much as happens in other countries, from the UK to the USA. But Malta is an infinitely smaller island and each additional influx has a direct bearing on the quality of life of each one of us.

There is equal evidence of the prevalence of marriages of convenience. Why is it, one asks, that so many Maltese women jump to accept any proposal of marriage even though it is clear, sometimes even to them, that it is all a sham? Or are the many heart-rending stories that one reads in countless marriage annulment cases all lies and fictions to impress the courts?

The law regarding marriages has been tightened; one cannot gain immediate citizenship when you marry a Maltese as it was some years ago, but it needs to be tightened even more. Some have been known to wait for five years when they automatically become citizens to start sowing their oats.

Citizenship should never be granted automatically or easily. We are not saying this is the way it is, but repeat that it needs to be tightened even further. Other countries insist on attending lessons on the identity of the country and its history; some have even suggested a sort of declaration of agreement with what it is that makes a country like that and like no other. Why not? We should perhaps ask of people to have some basic, rudimentary knowledge of Maltese history and the Maltese language.

This has been found to be very important in other countries so why not here: we should perhaps ask some form of public declaration of agreement and acceptance of basic democratic rules since most come from countries where this is in complete abeyance.

The law must be tightened further: countries such as Italy have been toying with the idea of making illegal immigration a crime. What about the people who dump their passports when they see Malta on the horizon so that their nationality is unknown? And shouldn’t staying on without a valid visa be made more punishable than it is now?

Another issue: many times one notices that most names mentioned in the court reports are foreign. Can’t the law go more into this; for instance, a conviction makes you lose points on a points scheme, which, if you lose within a specified timeframe, will terminate your citizenship.

The above is not racist or anti-immigrant at all. We recognize that Malta is Malta precisely because it is a mix of nations. But the mix must be managed. We should not be against immigrants as long as they are law-abiding and accept to live in a democracy with democratic laws. But not if they winkle out our weak points and exploit them. It is not integration when they do the more menial jobs, the jobs the Maltese do not want to do. Integration will happen if and when they look on themselves as no longer representing the country they came from but rather as citizens of Malta.

Above all, despite the risk of fuelling xenophobia and racism, this is a subject that should be discussed, responsibly and fully, by the country’s opinion makers and political leaders. Only people behaving like ostriches would think that just because the subject is not discussed people out there do not have strong opinions about it.