Degradation of immigrants

Maurice Mizzi, in his letter titled Immigration Dangers (October 23), deals with immigrants the same way housewives do with mice in the pantry: "Eek!! Filthy little beasts! Somebody do something!" I am sorry to have to interrupt his potpourri correspondence with his pen-pal I.M. Beck, but I feel he has molested the laws of reason far enough.

Somali Islamists whip women for wearing bras, explains Mr Mizzi, so it stands to reason that illegal immigrants are sub-human misogynists who should be kicked out of Malta. Apart from being an untested assumption of agreement, this is an example of a rhetorical fallacy known as "seeking proof in anecdote", and all it demonstrates is that Somalia has its fair share of bigots and religious fanatics; a reality true of most countries, including ours. Another instance of this fallacy is culled from one of Mr Mizzi's earlier letters: "In which religion are women given 40 lashes just because they wear trousers or are seen kissing a man in the street? In which religion do people plan to blow up three airliners killing thousands of innocent passengers including women and children?" I could very well counter with: "In which religion is it common practice for a man to be a saint on Sunday and a hypocrite on Monday?" or "In which religion has most propaganda, persecution and war been levied?" Mr Mizzi should get a hold of his prejudices, or - oh happy thought! - quit spewing them altogether.

The Consul General of Iceland also moonlights as a private investigator: "Immigrant women are arriving in Malta in a pregnant state. Is there more than meets the eye to this?" Don't waste time looking for clues, Sherlock Holmes; I have your answer right at hand. They are so desperate to ensure a decent standard of living for themselves and their children that they are willing to risk a dangerous sea journey to give birth on Maltese soil. If you can't see that for yourself, then you should fix yourself up with a stronger magnifying glass.

"[Another] worrying aspect is the lack of people writing about these immigrants. Am I the only Maltese who is seeing the danger?" "About" them? Try "in favour of". The final degradation immigrants must face is the image people like Mr Mizzi have of them. It pits them against the assembled forces of public resentment and keeps them in the dirtiest and lowest-paying jobs. Having imposed this indignity, lotus-eaters like Mr Mizzi then theorise about it. They do not see it as the tragic work of transnational corporate hegemony or as a social product. Rather, the racial segregation of the immigrants reflects their "natural" character: aggressive, shiftless, irresponsible, and so on. So prejudice becomes self-justifying. It creates miserable conditions and then cites them as a rationale for unfounded judgment calls.

Mr Mizzi quotes Giovanni Falcone saying that: "He who is silent and bows his head dies every time he does so". He would do better to remember David Carradine's advice from the TV series Kung Fu: "The wise man always walks with his head bowed, humble as the dust".