Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; and colour. 32-year-old Tekliab Ashih, from Eritrea, died after jumping into the sea at Paradise Bay to save a French tourist.
The man, who worked for the Paradise Bay Hotel, jumped into the sea with another French tourist who had jumped in to save his compatriot. It is understood that they managed to help the man to shore but the sea got rougher. Before he could be saved, Ashih’s life was taken by the sea.
Ashih probably undertook an arduous journey, crossing thousands of miles of desert before hopping onto a rickety boat. Like all other immigrants, he was probably hoping to get to Italy, but instead ended up here. He might have then spent over a year in detention, before being given refugee status.
He had a wife and family, and judging from the tributes made to him on Facebook, he was a hard worker and a very likeable chap. He must have been, to risk his life for someone he did not know. He paid the ultimate price – with his life.
A very pertinent question was asked on Facebook. While there has been an outpouring of sympathy for this young man, one person wondered what the spin would have been, had he, for example, been charged with rape. It is a very good question to ask, and it ties in with the lead of this article.
People from sub-Saharan Africa have been coming here in substantial numbers for years, yet for many, they are still “the immigrants”, “is-suwed” or even “il-klandestini”. Some people treat refugees with outright contempt, others look down on them, but there are also others who look at them as simple peers; fellow human beings.
This man, Tekliab Ashih was not just a simple peer, a simple human being. He found it in himself to jump into a rough sea to save someone else. If we were to put our hand on our heart and ask the question: “Would I have been able to do it?” Most of us would have to say no.
While the reasons are varied, it is clear that Africans who have come to Malta have not yet integrated. But there is hope. One only needs to look at Ahmed Bughre, the manager of the Marsa Open Centre, to see that people can be assimilated into our culture. Mr Bughre is Ghanaian, but has lived here for over 20 years and has a wife and children. He is, to all effects, Maltese.
There will come a day when Malta will need immigrants. As our standard of living increases, our workforce seeks better jobs. It is no coincidence to see that many Africans are in low-income employ, such as on rubbish trucks, at construction sites, and as in this case, in the lower strata of the tourist trade.
Many will argue that it has been the same all over the world. When immigrants went to the US and the UK, they too started on the bottom rung. One day, these people will become part of our society. We can also hope that one day, an African person might not be regarded as an “iswed” or a “klandestin”. One day, they will be inter-marrying and working in all sectors of society, as employees and professionals. We must accept them and we must utilise them as best we can. This newspaper salutes the bravery of a young man who gave up his life to save someone else.