Plight of migrant women in Malta

Almost everything has been said about the problem of illegal immigration, but what keeps surprising me is the happy-go-lucky, not to say naïve attitude of some people to the sheer costs of the problem.

The article 'Plight of migrant women in Malta' by Frances Camilleri Cassar (The Sunday Times, October 18) is a case in point. She draws up a long shopping list of the needs of migrant women, from education to health care, and from employment to housing. But at no point does she attempt to cost her proposals, let alone suggest ways of financing them.

In the meantime, the government's budget deficit is rising, unemployment is increasing and the purchasing power of wages and pensions is falling, not least because of water and electricity bills. Dr Camilleri Cassar and others seem to believe that the government, that is, the taxpayers, have some duty to shower unlimited amounts of money on immigrants.

Dr Camilleri Cassar acknowledges that "women with refugee status, humanitarian protection and rejected asylum seekers have access to free medical care in state hospitals and state health centres". But she has not noticed that, as a result of unacceptable waiting lists, the government is considering roping in some private hospitals.

What wins the biscuit is Dr Camilleri Cassar's complaint that "securing a bank loan for the purchase of immovable property is highly unlikely among migrant women, especially since the law precludes third country nationals from purchasing property selling below a specified threshold".

Are we being told now that illegal immigrants who arrived in our country without money, documents or belongings should be helped to buy property to the extent that our laws should be changed? I must say this beggars belief.