The problem of illegal migration

Sharon Spiteri's article (September 22) argues that the detention policy the Maltese government employs encourages xenophobia. This in itself is untrue. Xenophobia is, put simply, the extreme dislike of foreigners and their customs. The detention policy is a legal act for an illegal action - if the same people entered through normal means then they would not be thrown in a detention centre.

She also argues that the government is arrogant in stating that the detention policy is kept in the national interest because, according to Ms Spiteri, the majority of Maltese people do not agree with this policy. How exactly did Ms Spiteri come to this conclusion? I for one would rather see these illegal immigrants locked up safely in detention centres than roaming our streets freely. I would not want the likes of Hammadi Ben Abdallah Rumdani anywhere next to me and so as not to place all illegal immigrants on his same level, they would still create numerous problems such as illegal employment, and so on.

Ms Spiteri also says that the illegal immigrants are people from troubled lands and the government is merely bullying a minority who are jailed for being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. These people are being jailed for entering the country illegally. Why should Malta suffer the burden of these people, which, by the way, is a burden which Malta cannot carry? Other people's tragedies are not my tragedies and vice-versa. Yes, I would be all for helping them until they can find a way back home but Malta cannot take the burden as things presently stand.

Ms Spiteri admits that she is often accused of being naïve in relation to the illegal immigration issue... and she very likely is for the simple reason that she sees the problem solely as a personal issue, one of humanity, and fails to see the bigger picture - the economic, social and political burden that these illegal immigrants create.