I refer to letters written in response to my previous letter on "migration parallels" in which I wrote that "there is a striking similarity in Maltese history with today's immigrants".

Similarity doesn't mean identical and parallel doesn't mean equal! Parallels might not have the same colour and might be seen from different angles.

I acknowledge the burden of today's influx to the Maltese islands and never intended to compare the legal infrastructure around Maltese emigration with the situation of today.

True: the passage of Maltese emigrants was subsidised by the host government and the Maltese government and all carried valid documentation; but my statement did neither refer to the legal implications nor the ethnic ability to blend with the host community.

True: the Maltese emigrants did not travel in open boats and never expected to be detained at the end of their journey.

True: the Maltese were not left to drown, or had to keep themselves afloat on the rim of a tuna-pen!

But to the essence of my statement, history is neither rewritten nor changed, it only repeats itself: the Maltese in the 1930s and the African immigrants of today share "the suffering, sacrifice and determination of those who travelled on a boat in search of something better. None of them knew what the other side of the world had in store".

And: "The Maltese immigrants of the 1930s as well as the African immigrants of today face the opportunities and challenges of migration when thousands left their country to seek a better life abroad."

Parallel lines span continents, so do love and understanding.