'Burdensome' immigrants (1)

Emanuel Cilia Debono (Justified Plea For Burden Sharing, November 20) should know that I don't do hysterical. My reply to his letter was written at a regular heart rate of 70 beats per minute and with a perspiration-factor of zero. My fingernails remained unchewed, and my stomach enzymes undisturbed. As for me "losing my restraint", I don't intend to organise a search party for it. If anyone finds it burrowing in their back yard or nibbling at their onions, they are free to keep it as a pet. To me it is nothing but a byword for intellectual dishonesty, and life is more rewarding without it.

On to the thankless task of making sense of the words people so carelessly throw about. Mr Cilia Debono says that: "A point which Mr Gatt misses is that every effort should be made at understanding our visitors and helping them integrate into our society. This process becomes difficult when migration is massive and unregulated." His concern is commendable, but his worries unfounded. Illegal immigration figures are down 50 per cent from last year (November 15) and chances are they'll be even lower next year round. My guess is that we've quite overwhelmed these people with our benevolent Christian charity. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you," sayeth the Lord*.

"Any sensible person must acknowledge that Malta's plea for burden sharing is justified and reasonable," says Mr Cilia Debono, maybe without realising he's tagging the word "burden" onto living, breathing human beings. Psychological theory has often noted that our most dangerous gift is our ability to define ourselves through words. Let's see Mr Cilia Debono use the same word to refer to spouses, pets or dependents. They can be a burden too, so why not call them that?

"He does not recognise 'national identity' let alone feel the need to preserve it... This does not mean, however, that we are justified in throwing overboard cultural values which we had cherished over the years."

Mr Cilia Debono keeps referring to our "national identity" and our "cultural values" without explaining what he means by them. It would be really considerate of him to set some field markers. What is our "national identity"? What are our "cultural values"? Getting tricked into national debates over non-issues like village feasts? Not realising that a condom-distribution ploy on university grounds was just a slick marketing operation? Coming together as a nation to discuss the Eurovision Song Contest? Having the freedom to buy 20 different brands of plastic Christmas trees?

If Mr Cilia Debono is so fearful of overpopulation, then why not deal with it specifically? Would that force Maltese people to reconsider their own policies on family size, distribution of wealth and availability of resources? Perhaps it would; which is why the topic is so scrupulously avoided.

(*Offer void where prohibited. Some restrictions may apply. Not available in all member states.)