Detention 'failing the test of faith'

Gozo Bishop Mario Grech chose the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows to lash out at the government's policy to detain illegal immigrants whose only crime was escaping persecution in their country.

"The time has come to ask ourselves in all honesty: Is it possible that a civilised country such as ours, having the values we think we are defined by, sees nothing wrong in keeping locked in detention women and men who committed no crime and who are only here because they are seeking another country's protection?" Mgr Grech said.

In his homily to the congregation gathered in Victoria last night he asked: "What society are we building now and for future generations when, blinded by prejudice, we depict as enemies or threats to national security people who need protection?"

This is the first time that one of the Church's leaders has attacked the policy of detention, which is the one thing both political parties agree on but which has been questioned by local NGOs and international humanitarian and civil rights' organisations.

Illegal immigrants are detained on arrival for up to 18 months and Mgr Grech called for an "honest, sincere and level-headed assessment" of the current policy.

He said long-term detention as applied in Malta led asylum-seekers to mental breakdown and did not prepare them to look benevolently upon the society in which they were to live until the time came when they were able to return to their country or to move on.

Touched by the recent tragic death of more than 200 immigrants off the Libyan coast, Mgr Grech compared the valley of tears rolling down the cheeks of their loved ones to the tear-filled eyes of Our Lady when she saw her Son nailed to the cross.

"How many disrupted lives. How many hopes of freedom and new life foundered on the seabed... the Mother of all humanity weeps today as she beholds the human tragedy of those who are escaping persecution, war and unbearable poverty in their countries," he said.

"Irregular immigration and our response to it as a nation and as Christians has become the greatest test of our faith today.

"What convergence is there between what we profess to believe and our treatment of refugees and immigrants in our midst? If we must be honest, it would seem we are failing this test."

Immigration had led to strong sentiments against these people, he said, urging the congregation to look inwards and ask what they were doing in the light of all this trouble and sorrow.

"Are we turning the other way so as not to see? Are we opening our eyes and rolling up our sleeves to come to the aid of those who need help? Or are we mistreating those who have already suffered a lot in life?" Mgr Grech asked.

"Many who have already experienced much suffering - imprisonment, beatings, abuse, rape, war injuries, and threats - before reaching Malta, are today living in unacceptable conditions," he said.

Mgr Grech said the Church through the Emigrants' Commission and the Jesuits Refugees Centre had already made a very valid contribution in support of this cause. But it was never enough.

Christian communities, parishes and Church institutions should lead the way in treating refugees and immigrants with the respect every human person deserved.

While it was right for Malta to call on European countries to share the burden, he believed the island should be vocal in explaining to Europe that the solution did not lie in forcibly returning people who needed protection to the life-threatening situations they had escaped from. Nor did it lie in making asylum inaccessible to those who needed it.

He pointed out that there were people on the island whose asylum claim had been rejected but who could not return or be returned to their country of origin.

"Irregular immigration is a challenge for us and for the whole of Europe. We have a human obligation to be aware of the sufferings of others, and to alleviate it... For Christians, there are the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: 'This is my commandment, love one another as I love you'."