Justice Minister Tonio Borg has suggested the erection of a monument for the 43 Maltese who were exiled to Uganda during the Second World War.
Speaking in Parliament late on Tuesday, on the 65th anniversary of a momentous sitting of the Council of Government (the then parliament) which debated an Order providing for the exile of the group, Dr Borg said that was one of the worst moments of Maltese parliamentary history, but it was also the scene of one of the finest speeches ever heard in the Chamber.
That speech was made by Sir Ugo Mifsud, co-leader of the Nationalist Party (and a former Prime Minister) and it ended abruptly when he suddenly fell ill, and died two days later, on February 11, 1942, at Villa Francia, Lija. The group was exiled on February 13.
Dr Borg said there were only two instances where Maltese were exiled, the other having been the case of Manuel Dimech at the time of the First World War.
The exile of the 43 Maltese was the climax of a series of major injustices. This group had formed part of an even larger group which was interned two years earlier without ever having been convicted by any court.
This was also a story of courage by those who stood up for the rights of the Maltese and a story of the hardship suffered by relatives of the internees, who continued to suffer even after the exile ended.
Dr Borg read an excerpt from Rajt Malta Tinbidel by Dr Ganado to give an example of the hardship of separation caused by the British government's decision:
"Qbatt il-valigga u hrigt nigri lejn il-karozza li kienet daqs hames passi boghod mill-bieb. Alda harget fil-bieb b'Tonio u Vanni kull naha. Vanni, meta rani diehel fil-karozza haseb li kont sejjer passiggata. 'Ha nigi mieghek Pa?, ha nigi mieghek...' L-ispettur Tabone hareg il-maktur u beda jomhod. Kellu ghajnejh bid-dmugh. It-tfal, qalli, it-tfal... ma kompliex, u qbadna t-triq lejn is-Salvatur."
Malta's young needed to be told about this sad episode because there were lessons to be learnt, Dr Borg said.
Among those who were exiled were Nerik Mizzi, leader of the opposition and co-leader of the Nationalist Party, Sir Arturo Mercieca, who was Chief Justice when he was interned, Herbert Ganado, Chev Vincenzo Bonello and many ordinary Maltese including dockyard workers. They were interned in May 1940 at Fort Salvatore, in Cottonera, and then transferred to the Civil prisons and, after protest, to St Agatha, in Rabat, from where the 43 were taken for exile.
This unfortunate blot in Malta's history served to reveal the courage, heroism and resistance of this group of Maltese who, despite everything that was thrown at them, remained loyal to their principles.
It was claimed that the Maltese were interned because they posed a threat to national security and public order, but it was never explained to them how this threat existed.
However unfair their arrest was, Dr Borg said he could never understand how the British Empire, on which the sun never set, considered them to be such a threat that they were even exiled. Indeed, Britons in the UK who were considered a threat to security were arrested but never exiled.
Indeed the 43 Maltese had challenged their exile in court and it was significant that Mr Justice Montanaro Gauci, a former member of Strickland's pro-British party ruled against the exile, saying it was not covered by law. Despite winning their case and before any appeal, the Maltese were still exiled and the colonial government and some Maltese rushed a Bill through the Council to provide for exile.
Sir Ugo's impassioned speech on February 9, 1942, was divided into two parts, the legal arguments and the political. In it he revealed his courage by insisting that the exile was a vindictive act against the Maltese which would sow division among the people from which only the colonial authorities would benefit.
Sir Ugo argued that even in war it was important to safeguard fundamental human rights and, furthermore, once the Westminster Parliament, despite the war, had not approved a law to authorise the exile of Britons suspected of posing a threat, why should the Maltese legislate to exile fellow Maltese from Malta? He insisted that it could only by the English Parliament which had the authority to exile British subjects from one colony to another.
Amid interruptions from across the floor Sir Ugo said: "What has happened to the internees can happen to anyone. We are here to defend individual human rights."
He continued by appealing to the Maltese in the council "Let us respect our own rights, the constitutional rights for which our ancestors struggled in this very Chamber. My appeal is, do not let the English use you, do not let them use the Maltese to intern fellow Maltese... I pray to God that such ugly matters which will leave an indelible mark on our history will not happen in Malta, I am feeling ill." He then suffered a heart attack and was taken home, dying two days later.
His appeal fell on deaf ears and George Borg Olivier, the only remaining Nationalist member on the council (the third, Nerik Mizzi having been interned) voted against the law in all its stages.
The internees were escorted into the hold of the merchant ship Breconshire on February 13 and warned that if anything happened and they tried to take to the boats, they would be shot.
In yet another injustice, although the group was supposed to have been interned and exiled because of pro-Italian sympathies, it was not allowed back to Malta before March 7, 1945, when the war with Italy had ended in September 1943 and Italians arrested in Malta had long been released.
Dr Borg said he had not recalled this case to request an apology from anyone, but to highlight the lessons which should have been learnt, notably that the Maltese should never be intolerant with each other and they should argue without harming each other.