Burden of illegal immigrants

I have gone through the government's contingency plan, as reported in the media, covering the very actual invasion of illegal immigrants this, and possibly, every other summer in the future.

The Maltese people have to evaluate this and any other contingency plan based on the hard facts they are experiencing daily. Walter Irvine, UNHCR representative, was also present at the presentation. Minister Dolores Cristina in her typical altruistic and philanthropic style seemed quite pleased to announce that she had turned a school into a new detention centre to house a wave of new illegal immigrants expected this summer.

Given the rate at which these immigrants are arriving and also, in the absence of an effective repatriation agreement with Libya, Ms Cristina will have to impound quite a number of schools and any other housing edifices to accommodate the present and future waves of illegal immigrants. Mr Irvine, on the other hand, in a very irritating and patronising manner, was quick to remark that he was disappointed to note (and no doubt report) that we have not yet phased out detention centres for good. He even made a passionate plea to the Maltese nation to invite these immigrants over for tea and cakes once in a while. No doubt this is a common practice in all other countries in the EU.

But in the end he reassured us that the EU would help us to share the burden. So it is a burden after all. From what we read lately, it is such a burden that the major EU countries, directly affected or not, are in the process of reaching an agreement to charter flights and repatriate all illegal immigrants, sharing the costs. Ms Cristina should do her utmost to include Malta in this initiative. This is perhaps the biggest problem Malta has ever had to face, burdening the taxpayer at a time of extenuating economic problems for our islands. The majority of the Maltese people are highly concerned. Every sensible citizen knows that we can neither sustain nor control the present wave of illegal immigration.

I am constantly amazed, for example, at how our security forces keep on reporting and possibly believing that small boats packed with people, powered by an outboard motor, can possibly depart from any part of the Libyan coast and make it to our shores days later with just a few gallons of petrol. It is virtually impossible. This is surely a highly organised trade and I have no doubt that these boat loads of people are only doing the final leg of their trip in these boats after being lowered into the sea from bigger vessels. Yet, we probably do not even have the resources to conduct a proper investigation. Secondly, there are very sensitive and disturbing issues involved, which could change our way of life forever.

What if the UNHCR manages to force the government to phase out detention centres, for example? What would it mean? Would illegal immigrants be allowed to roam free as soon as they land? Isn't the government concerned about the very serious health issues for example? Many of these illegal immigrants are coming from countries that have never even had the basic sanitary facilities. How can we be assured that they are not carriers of some of the deadliest diseases in the world at present?

Who would assist us if, or perhaps when, the unthinkable happens and a deadly virus is spread on our tiny overpopulated island? Have we already forgotten about the bird flu in China or the ebola virus in Angola? We cannot check their identity or country of origin because they never have any identification papers and whoever is organising their trip is conveniently instructing them to say that they are coming from countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan or Eritrea so that they can apply for refugee status.

How will we protect our culture, our dwindling jobs and even our identity once their numbers grow into thousands and we start experiencing the first ethnic villages and towns or quarters? These will be huge problems in a country the size of Malta. Are we all so naïve as to completely ignore them?

These are problems which we can neither contain nor resolve unless drastic action is taken. It has nothing to do with racism as many conveniently label any criticisms or concern levelled at it. We should take concrete action until all the other members of the EU accept and agree to share it with us and not just by providing funds so that we can retain them. For us it just as big a problem as meeting the convergence criteria for the adoption of the euro. The only difference is that Brussels will penalise us for not meeting the criteria while we can impose no measure against whoever is masterminding this illegal trade.

We just have to lump it and our children will bear all its very serious consequences for many years to come.

At the present Malta will soon become the detention centre for all illegal immigrants coming from North Africa into the EU.