Children's charity to refuse Anġlu Xuereb's donations

The person in charge of a centre for disadvantaged children has declared he will no longer accept donations from Azzjoni Nazzjonali's deputy leader Anġlu Xuereb after he was "scandalised" by a party billboard pledging to close down a Balzan open centre.

"I cannot criticise the billboard on one hand and then accept donations on the other. My conscience won't let me," he told The Times when contacted.

Mgr Victor Zammit McKeon, director of the Central Office, Ejjew Għandi (Children's Homes), wrote a message addressed to Mr Xuereb on the timesofmalta.com portal after reading about AN's billboard.

The billboard on Wednesday featured an image of Mr Xuereb and promised that the Balzan open centre for migrants would be closed. The message on the board was yesterday changed to For A Better Balzan.

"That billboard really scandalised me. I could not believe my eyes. You and your dear wife Jessie always helped me financially in my work with disadvantaged children. I am very sorry to tell you that I cannot in conscience accept any more financial help from your side. I truly believe the Good Lord will play his part as he always did... I am praying that you change your opinions," the monsignor wrote.

Ejjew Għandi runs five child day care centres, assisting families afflicted by social problems, mostly living below the poverty line. There, children are looked after while the parent/s go/es to work.

A Mepa spokesman said a permit would only be required for commercial billboards. Political billboards were not subject to permits.

When contacted, Mr Xuereb said Mgr Zammit McKeon had a right to choose not to accept donations, made through the AA Foundation run by his wife. He had always supported people in need and he himself employed people of various nationalities.

Asked about the billboard, he said its content was changed on a regular basis.

"We are not racists. I want to make this clear. We are against illegality," he insisted.

This was strongly stressed in a statement released by his party stating that, unless the EU translated some of its promises into action, AN would take unilateral action on illegal immigration.

"A government's first duty is to protect its citizens and not to practise charity. The state is not a philanthropic organisation. If this EU aid is not forthcoming, one of the unilateral measures outlined in our manifesto is the closure of open centres, and the Balzan open centre is no exception. Those who equate the closure of the Balzan open centre with the closure of private property are being disingenuous. AN in government will simply disallow the use of property, be it private or public as open centres," AN said.

It also questioned whether any applications for a change of use had been submitted to use the Balzan premises as an open centre and wondered whether residents' concerns were being heard.

On Wednesday, timesofmalta.com carried an item quoting Mgr Philip Calleja, director of the Emigrants' Commission, as expressing shock and regret over the AN billboard.

Several readers, like Mgr Zammit McKeon, reacted and while many criticised the billboard as "shameful", "uncalled for" and "disgusting", others agreed with the message behind it. (Some comments of people writing against immigration could not be posted as checks indicated they had written under a false identity.)

"These immigrants are still people with human rights. This includes the right to shelter and protection," Paul Vincenti wrote. Agreeing to this, a certain Ryan B said this was "disgraceful" and asked: "Will Anġlu host the migrants in one of his multi-million properties perhaps?"

Lincoln Spiteri said the billboard was an "attempt to appeal to people's lowest instincts rather than their highest aspirations" and columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia wrote: "Welcome to the joys of the multiparty system and discover the truth that it usually turns out to resemble a giant freak show".

One Balzan resident, Vincent Mifsud, said: "I do not know of a single incident involving an immigrant. These people seem to me to be very respectable, simply trying to do their best in life". He then added that he believed that a lot of AN's policies made sense "but this obsession about immigration has to stop".

Ernest Meli begged to differ commenting: "Well done AN. Let us stop our country from becoming a Mini Congo...This is a silent invasion."

Sandro Pace said he believed there was nothing wrong with the billboard. "In the UK they also protest against immigrant centres. The only thing which is illegal are the immigrants. AN should take legal action if its voice is suppressed. Most of the immigrants do not deserve to be here and are only here because they cannot be sent back," he wrote.