From Mr M. Seychell

In his letter with the above title, Dr Simon Micallef Stafrace was right to emphasise the dynamics of the situation (TMIS, 24 August). Not only is the illegal immigration situation bad, it is going from bad to worse. The numbers increase year after year: 2200 illegal immigrants have already arrived this year and bets are being made that by December the number will reach 3000. That is not counting their children born in Malta. We can see their growing numbers even on buses and in the streets. It has been happening gradually, so we may not be immediately conscious of the increase. But foreign visitors who come to Malta every summer notice the difference from one year to the next.

In a recent interview, Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici declined to give the total cost of illegal immigration because, he said, calculations are too complicated. In the meantime, Brigadier Carmel Vassallo, head of the AFM, told Il-Gens of 2 August that more than 80 per cent of the AFM’s resources go for immigration. That should be quite easy to calculate. In another interview (MaltaToday, 15 June), Mifsud Bonnici said his ministry is responsible for both closed and open centres. Is it credible that Mifsud Bonnici is not aware of the expenditure of his own ministry? All the indications are that the government is unwilling to reveal the real cost of illegal immigration because it would have to give an account to voters and taxpayers.

In the same article in Il-Gens, Dr Godfrey Leone Ganado, chairman of the Church’s Justice and Peace Commission, was quoted as saying: “I ask: can the country, which is so small, keep taking all this influx? Can the country, with its limited resources and the pressure on its finances and the economy, carry these numbers? One must also consider the matter of accommodation.” It seems that the central Church authorities are opening their eyes to reality and the do-gooder NGOs are being marginalized. It is high time that Gonzi and Mifsud Bonnici realise that their first loyalty should be to Malta as a State, and not to other considerations, worthy though they may be.

Malcolm Seychell

BIRKIRKARA