I am certainly not the only person to have been struck by the news that has dominated the local and international headlines following the tragedy that unfolded as more people lost their lives asanother boat sank off the coast of Lampedusa. This came fresh in the wake of a previous tragedy just a week earlier where we mourned more than 350 lives. The image of rows and rows of coffins is etched in our minds. As Commissioner Malmstrom stated last week following her visit to Lampedusa, “I think they express something that we need to think about in the European Union, this isn't the European Union we want.”
As we followed this tragedy unfolding in horror, we have subsequently become more and more informed of anecdotes of the men and women who lived through this ordeal, and been told about their children, family members and friends who tragically did not survive.
We have heard personal accounts from members of our Armed Forces who were involved in the rescue operations and did their utmost to rescue as many people as possible, yet felt helpless as they could see others drowning before their very eyes.
An account given by one of the AFM pilots in the media earlier this week resonated particularly as he reflected the thoughts that surely all of us have been experiencing. “I have two children” he said, “and I saw a baby drown”.
The thought of such experiences and suffering alone is unbearable – we cannot even begin to imagine the devastation and sense of irreparable loss that they must be feeling. As a father too, it pains me to think of the decisions that such families have had to take to flee from their homes and embark on such a journey, only to end up the victims of tragedy, loss and despair.
Time and again, our politicians discuss the toll of immigration, lamenting the financial, logistical and social strain that our country must bear. Whilst these strains are an unfortunate reality, I increasingly fear that we are too quickly forgetting that this is first and foremost a human tragedy and a humanitarian crisis. Whilst I believe that we should put pressure on our European and International partners to act in a concerted manner so as to prevent and mitigate both the causes and repercussions of irregular migration, this should not detach us from the plight of each and every individual who was forced to take such a journey.
Throughout our history, we have taken pride in being “the nurse of the Mediterranean”, stepping up to the plate in times of crisis. Yet for individuals who have taken the difficult decision to uproot themselves and their families and cross deserts and seas in the most precarious of conditions, every day is a state of crisis. Too often the causes and conditions are less spectacular and easily forgotten by the media.
The solutions are far from simple or straightforward, and it is only a multifaceted and holistic approach that will lead to very gradual solutions to the challenges being posed by irregular immigration – both for the migrants themselves, and for countries like Malta who receive migrants. We must of course put forward the strongest of arguments to all our fellow EU Member States so that they too face up to the responsibility of the tragedy that is taking place. It is here that we must focus our efforts. Whilst it is all too easy to lambast the European Commission for lack of action in reality it is our fellow European countries that have all too often been reluctant to act or worse still have actively blocked any kind of initiative by the Commission.
Beyond all this we must however not forget that our starting point remains the individual, and our primary objective must always remain preventing human tragedy and suffering in all its forms. This is what we as a nation are about.
Stefano Mallia is a Nationalist Party European Parliament election candidate