News stories about Maltese volunteers doing their part to help Ukrainian refugees have been appearing in the news, and it just goes to show how the everyday person in the street could do their part to help improve the lives of others.
Some volunteers have gone to countries neighbouring Ukraine, helping in the humanitarian efforts directly. Some even venture into Ukraine to take food or help transport refugees to safety. They are not doing this to be called heroes, or to be glorified, but they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
They are doing this to help their fellow man, to help those in need who are currently going through the hardest of times.
It’s not easy to decide to pack up, head to another country for a few weeks to volunteer, but they do it anyway. For this, we should all applaud them.
But then there are other Maltese people who are doing their parts in other ways. There are the Maltese who are donating to help in the humanitarian efforts, to help the refugees fleeing the warzone. There are also those helping Ukrainian refugees in Malta, such as the story of a man providing a newly inherited flat to a family of Ukrainian refugees.
In some way or other, we could all do our part.
We must never forget that the refugees fleeing war are people, and not just numbers. Hearing about the number of those who have died sometimes reduces things to a simple statistic, but behind every death is a father, mother, child, sibling. We must not become numb to this. The moment we do is the moment we fail our fellow men and women who are going through suffering.
One must point out that while a lot of attention is currently on Ukraine, there are others dying elsewhere in the world. There are refugees coming from other countries, making the treacherous crossing from Libya to Europe.
A number of these are refugees fleeing war, persecution or extreme poverty. Some Maltese look at them through a different lens purely because of the colour of their skin. This is absolutely not acceptable.
Economic migrants must be sent back yes, but to a safe country. The safety Libya provides is in question.
These people are risking their lives when crossing the Mediterranean, where countless have died. That is not something easily done on a whim.
Europe must do more to ensure fewer deaths in the sea, and must do more to support African economies to help them develop. Europe must show more solidarity with the Mediterranean EU states and not ignore the situation.
At the same time we must not look at those crossing with disdain. They are human beings too. If you grew up with no prospects in a country with extreme poverty, struggling to know where your next meal will come from, wouldn’t you want to leave too?