Bishops say migrant's killing raises serious questions - suggest review of detention policy

Joe Xuereb

Jul 7th 2012, 23:18

@Robert Caruana (5th July 13:05). Interesting retort, if somewhat too two-dimensional.
Mr. Caruana, in a civilized society we should care for fellow human beings. But not to the point of being emotionally overwhelmed as that would destroy us. Having said that, even among the civilised one finds people who make the decisions and pay the price. It is all part of being on the planet with millions of others. Some are civilized in their own right but ignorant of European way
and they reach for the silver chalice that is, ideally, Rome. Their first wrong move is deciding to abandon their country when they needn't. But the chalice beckons and everybody is doing it.
They pay good money to a trafficker and the trek thousands of miles South begins. They could opt to stop somewhere along the way but the chalice there is too tarnished. They want a pristine chalice and pavements lined with gold. All along - and it would not surprise me to know that the undermining of one's mental health started before they even leave, and it now taking its toll.
They reach Malta and are accommodated in a barely adequate Detention Centre. What kind of outcome is this for their dream? So they escape and are on the run for THREE years, constantly
looking over their shoulder whilst trying to make a life of sorts. Sleeping isnt easy (can you imagine yourself Caruana, being on the run for three years? what it would do to your psyche?)
He cannot take it any more so he approaches a clinic. His family and friends say what a nice guy he is. No doubt but he is also quite disturbed to the point of multiple fleeing bids, aggression, and so on. He ends up dead, unfortunately.
People whose job it is to look after people - bouncers, police officers, soldiers, teachers, priests - should, ideally, be tested for psychological soundness before they are taken on. My guess is that the unemployment figures would rocket. If the people charged with this alleged murder are indeed racist they should be make to pay the highest price as their choice of employment was just that, their choice. If I were in employment that I felt was unsuitable to my temperament I would leave. I am sure you would do the same, Mr. Caruana.
Note. I find it fascinating that many bleeding-hearts here eulogise the bishops. Of course they are free to exercise that choice. I tend to steer clear of bishops who often pronounce on things they know nothing about or otherwise, open their mouths on things relevant but rather late in the day. A bit like, today is Thursday, let's talk about migration.

Joe Xuereb

Jul 7th 2012, 20:20

@Kurt Waschnig (5th July 17:58). Mr. Waschnig, you make it sound like the Maltese as a sovereign people do not have any rights worth considering.
According to you, the Detention Centres are inhuman. I cannot say because I have never seen them nor am I anxious to. Yet you quote Medicins sans Frontieres as saying that the influx of migrants will increase. So according to you, we should set up more and bigger Detention Centres, is that it?

You complain that condolences are not appearing in profusion. I'll make you happy and express my condolences. As for the bishops offering theirs to the victim's friends and family, they make this sound like an obituary concerning the demise of some Maltese individual. There is a family of sorts (I wonder who will feed his child?) and friends within the Malian community. A Malian community? in Malta? If only he had never got it into his head that he wanted to come to Europe, he might still be alive today.

How many Detention Centres do you have in and around Oldenburg Mr. Waschnig? How many passing the time of day lounging across the parvis of your beautiful Baroque churches? I know! I know! of course they are human beings. If only it were as simple as that. The first question to ask, being, are they integrating seamlessly? in Oldenburg, of all places? Answer on a postcard. Viel danke schön!

I seem to remember a few days back you giving your full backing to gay rights. The bishops would be none to pleased with you , you know! Maybe you could clarify your position? Or maybe you shouldn't. Your comments are so inconsistent you are barely credible.

@Joe Fenech (5th July 23:03). Mr. Fenech, Maltese visitors to London perceive the city differently(after all they get so excited being out of tiny Malta, plus all that shopping). I worked in Kensington (in Social Services so I know what the Royal Borough gives, and takes). It is not all 'Kensington Palace, the Albert Hall, and Exhibition Road. It is also the near slum that is North Kensington. It functions rather well as a market but that is about all. I say this because automatic integration beyond buying and selling not really evident (and I say this as a person who has worked and slept with black people). Moving nearer to Shepherds Bush one has Westfield, allegedly the biggest shopping mall in Europe, together with the newly opened branch near the Olympic Village. Yet, move a few yards down the road to Shepherds Bush Market and this is Third World stuffing. It functions as such, and wonderfully so. It feels like a home from home to me because it is not unlike one aspect of Malta. It will be 'ruined' in the next couple of years when it will be modernised. The thinking being that a shambles encourages crime whereas gleaming marble surface deter it (I'm not so sure).

I live in a house of apartments with two separate sets of refugees. One is becoming ill and has assaulted me on numerous occasions(his paranoia tells him Mr. Xuereb - to my face - works because he has blue eyes. He has never worked so I subsidise him with my taxes). The other 'family' is never there but they sublet, illegally as I understand it. The mail that gets delivered to the house so I have no alternative but to use a Box No. at the Post Office, costing me well over £200 a year. I have no choice.

Last Thursday I attended the inauguration of Renzo Piano's Shard - lasers and Son et Lumiere, the usual crowd-pullers - in London. It drew the crowds and we all sat on the damp sand as the tide was low but no sun to speak of, not yesterday. Afterwards people were asking each other what they thought (of the spectacle). I would have liked a fireworks display to remind me of home but none went up. I mentioned to people I engaged with the fact that half of London is sponsored by oil-rich societies like Qatar (as in this instance). This was not news to them. (I had engaged them by asking them to help me up from my damp-arsed seated position and then decided to get to the walking via the iron rungs ladder to the next level. They offered to carry my bag and my walking-stick but I declined. Some Maltese can be quite determined even in old age). Londoners can be friendly - I see to that. The proviso at the new Shard is that no outlets dealing in alcohol or gambling will be allowed. And the flats therein will see one out of pocket by £50 million. British people living in the lap of luxury in the country are two a penny but none would be foolish enough to invest in a Shard apartment. Which begs the question - who is going to buy these flats? You have guessed it. The people who are calling the shots, that is who.......I had an interesting conversation (what elses?!)pointing out that Malta's too has its version of The Shard. No expenses spared (twice, seeing that the project was proposed twenty years ago to the same designer but THAT came to nothing. Thanks to an incompetent Administration that went on to make the same mistake twice. Unforgiveable! And then we expect this same Administration to be capable of dealing with a situation like this, the migrants issue?!

Charles Grixti

Jul 5th 2012, 22:21

It is only the politically-mediated numbing of the critical senses "a la Orwell" that allowes invaders to be called "immigrants" in the first place.

Joe Xuereb

Jul 5th 2012, 21:21

With apologies. Correction (fourth line from the end in my response @ 5th July 19:8 to Roderick Cristina). He think he was very because he was not 'wise' enough to see that being trafficked, and colluding with your traffickers, is not a good idea.

Should have read: I think he was very naive - or simply blindly determined - because he was not wise enough to see that being trafficked, and colluding with his traffickers, was not a good idea.
Of course it is easy to be wise with hindsight.

Yet again. People should not go around murdering each other (there is a commandment about this I believe). But by the same token, people should be mindful of the consequences of their decisions. Complete innocence is only a self-serving figment of the imagination. It works like a charm. Not unlike that other human failing, one's propensity to denial. That too works like a charm, with consequences.

Dave Alan Caruana

Jul 5th 2012, 21:13

one alternative in a bid to reduce detention time would be to fast-track repatriations of those illegal immigrants clearly not deserving refugee status. It is a fact,though, that these illegal immigrants do their best to hinder the process.

I fully condemn the abuse of authority that led to the murder of Mr. Kamara, however it doesn't follow that Maltese Citizens could do with any less protection from these immigrants who have, after all here illegally.

Joe Xuereb

Jul 5th 2012, 19:48

@Joseph N. Attard (5th July 13:42). Well said, Mr. Attard. Quote; The first step to anarchy is the elimination of any respect for authority, both political and ecclesiastic. One can sense it in some of the racist writing whenever an illegal immigrant is concerned.
Mr. Attard, so according to you racist writing is the first step to anarchy. Dont you think that an immigrants coming into the country illegally is an even worse form of anarchy? I am only saying what you said Attard. Anarchy has many faces. Even recognising one type of anarchy - and some comments may sound racist when in fact THEY ARE NOT - but ignoring another could be seen as one's own form of anarchy. Read this a few times and you will understand what I mean.


@Roderick Cristina (5th July 13:14). Right! No national heroes, please! Innocent people all over the world die or are killed all over the world. Mamadou was lead to believe, or he chose to believe that the streets of 'Rome' or wherever, are paved with gold. He paid the highest price. He think he was very because he was not 'wise' enough to see that being trafficked, and colluding with your traffickers, is not a good idea. If his alleged killers started off with the intent to kill, shame on them and they will be brought to book. Within a system that often seems to fail the common people. Hence their frustrations and fear. And sometimes they snap. As simple as that!

Kurt Waschnig

Jul 5th 2012, 17:58

The Bishops of Gozo and Malta are right to call for justice in the wake of the killing of an immigrant in a Detention Service van.

The killing of Mamadou Kamara is barbaric and gruesome and therefore the killing must lead to a review of the detention policy in Malta.

Archbishop Paul Cremona and Bishop Mario Grech in a joint statement expressed their condolences
to Mr Kamara´s family and friends snd the Malian community in Malta.

At least the Bishops of Malta and Gozo expressed their condolences.

The Times of Malta reported on the killing of Mamadou Kamara and by reading comments published in the Times of Malta only two commentators expressed their condolences.

Most of the comments are very insensitive and what is really frightening lot of comments are full of hatred and racism against immigrants in Malta.

One can discover in the comments xenophobia and hostility to foreigners.

And I agree fully with the Bishops of Malta and Gozo when they say: “The bishops said this case should also lead society to reflect about its attitude to persons who sought asylum in Malta. Speeches, comments and behaviour of a racist nature or which showed contempt to the migrants were against the teachings of the Gospel.”

The message of the Gospel is dignity, joy, happiness, mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and to look after the needy and the poor.

Thank you Archbishop Paul Cremona and Bishop Mario Grech to state that speeches, comments and behaviour of a racist nature or which showed contempt to the migrants were against the teaching of the Gospel.

According to an Amnesty international report conditions in detention centres continued to worsen.
The report says human rights were still being breached as a result of the mandatory detention policy.
The report should be taken seriously. Amnesty international is highly regarded all over the world as a defender of human rights.
Medecins Sans Frontieres reports on living conditions in Malta´s detention centres. It says the influx of new arrivals is causing further deterioration of already inhuman living conditions for detainees. Overcrowding, appalling hygiene and inadequate shelter in the centres expose detainees to the risk of skin and respiratory infections. Access to healthcare is poor, and the detainees’ health suffers as a consequence. Detainees with infectious diseases are held in the same areas as healthy people, contributing to the spread of epidemics. Patients have to wait days, sometimes weeks, before they receive the medication prescribed during consultations. Vulnerable people – pregnant women, children and sick people – are all kept in detention centres and are only eligible for release once a decision is taken based on their individual case.
That cannot be tolerated because it is a clear breach of human rights. Detention centres are a shame for Malta.

Migrants must be treated with dignity and respect. Malta is a constitutional state.

Amnesty International and other international organisations will continue to raise their voice against racism, xenophobia, hostility to foreigners and Malta´s detention policy.

Best regards


Kurt Waschnig Oldenburg


e-mail: [email protected]

Ruth Muscat

Jul 5th 2012, 16:52

Thank you dear Bishops for this statement.

Louise Vella

Jul 5th 2012, 16:21

The following is unfortunately pure fiction:
“The Bishops of Malta and Gozo this morning called for justice in the wake of the abuse of children by several priests, a crime which has happened quite regularly in the past, and asked whether this should lead to a review of their policy of not reporting abusing priests to the police. Archbishop Paul Cremona and Bishop Mario Grech in a joint statement expressed their sorrow over the cases and expressed their excuses to the victims, their families and friends. The latest case again raises a number of very serious questions," the bishops said.

"What led to the abuse of children while they were under the care of ordained and consecrated priests? We expect justice to be served as quickly as possible both with regard to the persons involved and the responsible institutions, in order to reassure the Maltese people and the church-going community," the bishops said.

"Another question is whether this is another opportunity to reflect on the policy. Are there alternatives to the different situations which children find themselves in? The fundamental guiding principle, in this case too, should be respect for the dignity of the person."

The bishops said this case should also lead society to reflect about its attitude to persons who sought the care of priests in Malta. Speeches, comments and behaviour of a dubious nature or which showed contempt to children were against the teachings of the Gospel.

The bishops expressed their praise and gratitude to all those who try to help children, including teachers, medical and para-medical personnel, social workers and others as well as the various NGOs and government departments and agencies.”

Anthony Camilleri

Jul 5th 2012, 16:11

What I cannot understand is the logic behind the insistence of the usual army of NGO's, Church entities etc.... reviewing the "detention policy" after this unfortunate event. By all means, investigate the way AFM and detention staff behave towards illegal immigrants as this may need tweaking but the policy, in itself , of detaining people crossing over to Malta without any identification documents is good and should stay. It standa to reason that someone trying to cross national boundaries is a priori, unles proven otehrwise an "illegal", no matter what others say, and desrve to eb treated as "illegal aliens", which is a criminila offence, no more no less. Only when it is proven beyond doubt what actuall they are, that they can then be called, economic immigrants, refugees etc..... The error is to, a priori, label them refugees simply because they decided to throw themselves onto a boat and set sail to Europe. Some immigrants, black, blue, red or orange, whatever nationality, are clearly economic migrants, pure and simple. It is natural for some who are not capable of arguing methodically and logically to simply shut up anyone disagreeing with the scream "HE/SHE IS A RACIST". Before one does that, one should put up a logical case for whatever opinion one holds and then let others argue, intelligently of course, for or against..

Carmelo Aquilina

Jul 5th 2012, 16:03

I support the Bishops' statement !

Thomas Mifsud

Jul 5th 2012, 15:32

Aħdmu maghhom dawn in-nies qabel titkellmu. Misskhom tistħu qed tiġġudikaw tlett suldati li lanqas biss tafuhom. Araw x'inhi l-verita qabel tikkundannaw.

Michael Grech

Jul 5th 2012, 15:07

Four Square with the Bishops, though more needs to be done by the church to help the immigrants who come to our shores; educate the Catholic flock as to its Christian responsibility.

stephen koludrovic

Jul 5th 2012, 15:00

Dear Bishops,

The easy part is asking why, and expecting an answer. The hard part is how to solve the problem, and giving a solution.

Maybe the church itself could help out by using some of its convents, to act as halfway houses, for some of the most vulnerable immigrants for a a few months prior to their definite release from the detention centers.

Steve Elliott

Jul 5th 2012, 14:41

never mind a revue of detention policies. start at the beginning, a revue of immigration policies in the first place

Joseph N. Attard

Jul 5th 2012, 13:42

The first step to anarchy is the elimination of any respect for authority, both political and ecclesiastic. One can sense it in some of the racist writing whenever an illegal immigrant is concerned.

Michael Hudson

Jul 5th 2012, 13:17

Agreed, justice should be served asap. As an ex AFM member and without justifying what happened since I wasn't there, I just want to highlight that the amount and kind of abuse our AFM personnel assisting some of these immigrants take is indeed tough. It's not the first time that soldiers serving food got the same thrown back in their faces and much, much more. I do not think it is a matter of colour at all. So let justice take its course and hear the facts first.

Roderick Cristina

Jul 5th 2012, 13:14

Quote: Another question is whether this is another opportunity to reflect on the detention policy. Are there alternatives to the different situations which the immigrants find themselves in?
Unquote

Yes there are....we don't let them in in the first place. al ftit mux ser naghmluh National Hero da..u nkomplu nkisru lil hutna maltin li jridu jiffacjaw das sitwazjonijiet 24/7....tal misthijja.

Louise Vella

Jul 5th 2012, 13:04

The bishops of Malta and Gozo - like everybody else in Malta and Gozo - have the right of freedom of expression. The people of Malta and Gozo have the right to hold their own opinions on matters of policy and they have the right to express them too. The electorate of Malta and Gozo has the right and duty to vote (whether in elections or in a referendum) in the best interests of Malta and Gozo which will not necessarily correspond to the views of the bishops of Malta and Gozo. The government of Malta and Gozo has the duty to govern in accordance with the will of the majority of the people of Malta and Gozo and in the best interests of Malta and Gozo - and this, again, will not necessarily correspond to the views of the bishops of Malta and Gozo.

John J Borg

Jul 5th 2012, 13:02

kollu opportunismu dan tal isqfijiet.....maltin mietu wkoll waqt li kienu fil kustodja tal forzi tal ordni.....u ma ntqal u inkiteb xejn!!!!......dan ma kienx xi helu, u l-inkwiet dejjem hu qalghu, mhux b`daqshekk kellu jmut hekk izda l-affarijiet stedinhom b`idejh. li hadd ma jsemmi hu kemm jaraw fuq wicchom dawn il gwardji u puluzija li hemm ghassa maghhom...abbuzi li jekk jghamilhom malti fuqek ittellghu il qorti u tfittxu ghad danni..

Paul Sammut

Jul 5th 2012, 12:57

Whatever the bishops say the detentioon policy should stay and be fprced. 'Liberta\ is good but 'libertinagg' is very bad and leads to chaos ! It's so easy to criticise from behing the desk like the bishops do, but it is very different when you have to curb these illegal immigrants. So lets not get overboard and open the flood gates for all. Lets be practical since we all know our limitattions !! The true story will come out for sure and there is no need sof many enquiries. The accused are already in court and that is the best enquiry of them all.!

Patrick Zammit

Jul 5th 2012, 12:52

@ the Bishops

The unfortunate death of this person has nothing to do with our detention policy but with the way our authorities treat persons under their custody. We have a number of cases where people (irrespective of their skin colour) ended up severely beaten and/or dead. Did you kick up a fuss when N Azzopardi ended up dead following his arrest or is your moralising reserved only for cases involving a specific type of foreigners whilst excluding paedophile priests?

Malta's detention policy is a very essential tool to deter illegal (and mainly economic) migrants from the continued assault on this small, overpopulated country which also has a severe lack of resources if you ignore humans.

Since it is not severe enough, it is not working as a good enough deterrent. A good percentage of these illegal and economic migrants only spend a few months under detention or none at all.

These immigrants arrive here in an undocumented way which makes it easier for them to invent their circumstances (and country of origin) which will in turn make it easier for them to qualify for education, healthcare, social security handouts, sustenance and accommodation, all for free. It will also be next to impossible for the authorities to send them back to their country of origin.

Detention for immigrants who enter other countries without documentation is practiced all over the world including in Israel where it was increased to 3 years last June and in Australia where the High Court has declared that it is constitutionally correct to detain illegal immigrants indefinitely. Australia has also sub-contracted other nations to detain would-be immigrants offshore, like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru whilst maintaining a detention facility of its own on Christmas Island.

Those who do not like detention can avoid it by entering other countries in a proper and documented way which is done by travellers who do not have anything to hide and who prefer to do things in a legally accepted manner instead of aiming at abusing the country’s taxpayers.

S Cachia

Jul 5th 2012, 12:47

With all due respect, when something similar happens, everyone with some sort of authority stands up and say "poor immigrants" and "action must be taken to stop racism" etc etc... We make a noise for some days and everything quiets down again... Why is it that always the forces of law take the blame? this time it's soldiers. Why is never the system to blame? I'm referring to the top end. How many can take the pschological trauma that our soldiers/policement have to endure on a daily basis. The insults, the spitting etc etc. Do the normal people know this? How much can you take of this on a daily basis? And then you have the "almighty" NGO's who turn the immigrants against the soldiers/police by instigating the regarding food and comodities etc etc. The NGOs are there to help and not to turn these immigrants against the detention centres staff. Why is it everyone is against the forces when something like this happens.... can't we look at the bigger picture and admit that the whole system failed?

Mr Angelo Abela

Jul 5th 2012, 12:03

"We expect justice to be served as quickly as possible both with regard to the persons involved and the responsible institutions, in order to reassure the Maltese people..." the bishops said.
This is exactly what they should have stated following the sexual abuse by priests. Don't mean to keep beating a dead horse, but they just ask for it when they come out with these statements. Depriving minorities from their rights is not a good thing. Giving minorities more importance than everyone else is equally bad.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 5th 2012, 11:27

Why, such a fuss, one would say!, I heard this street person say. I looked back in such shock, to find the stomach and time to hear his hatred towards Colour.

He further went to to make a bold exclamation: The Whole World Should Thank God For Making Just Few Maltese, if it was not so, it will be a world of evil and brutality.

I almost got lost when he refereed to the Malta Prison, where the whole population is imprisoned, by our waters , in place of Iron Bars.

Now that is the worst combination, he says when High Population, in a Limited amount of Space, feels trapped, he adds to it, the notion of poverty, discontent, injustice, unemployment, hungry kids, obstinate politicians, the problem of Arriva, the heat, high mortgage interest rates, negative equity, fear of a violent government in the making, petrol prices, gas and electricity bills, ......................................................................................, .............

what does it add up to?, he says for one to say its purely a case of Black skin, is just a fallacy, the problem lays within us, he asks the crowd, whom of you, if there was no fear of Law, would not do what has been alleged that has been done to this gentleman, again again and again?

JOSEPH CROKER

Jul 5th 2012, 11:24

While I fully concur with the Bishops' comments, may I humbly ask one question? Why does it take the leaders of the local Church so long to react to such a tragedy? I do not expect the Bishops to condemn anyone, it is not their remit to do so; however, in the face of the death of a fellow human being in such tragic circumstances, would it not have been more appropriate to show their Christian concern without any delay?

Joe Xuereb

Jul 5th 2012, 11:14

This is interesting. Only yesterday I submitted a comment suggesting key people in Malta should be interviewed and asked for their views on the matter (the PM, various NGOs, the Jesuit Refugee Services, and so on). Lo and behold, this morning comes this article. The bishops have spoken and for once, they are not getting their cassocks in a twist over our marriages and families, gays and their rights, and so on. No, this time round they are fretting over migrants and their dignity which is being trampled on. According to them, dignity must be conferred on anybody who demands it and this because the Gospels say so. They are asking for changes in the detention policy. In no time they will be suggesting that anybody who comes to Malta, with family and friends and extended family (according to the bishops, all are welcome and the greater the number the healthier the number of Catholic converts - 'go and multiply' is in keeping with the Gospels if we are going to use the Gospel as the definitive rule-book) under any guise, should instantly be given a Maltese passport, a decent residence and work. The Church in Malta could start a dating-agency so that any Maltese woman so inclined could have the pick of the punch of these new Maltese citizens. With a little help from the Church, this women with these men will sire many children and population growth in Malta will be healthy yet again. And everybody can be a convert to whichever religion they choose (the Gospel may not be too happy about this last bit but hey! one cannot have everything). Problem solved! Problem stored, till later. As for the Maltese people, who cares?! They are a profligate lot. What with their drug-taking, their boozing, their fornicating habits, their living-in-sin, their irregular siring of children, and their racism (if ever there was a dangerous label to stick on someone, this is it). Welcome to Malta! Welcome to 2018 when the capital will be focused on, complete with roofless theatre, up and running with rain water.


I am sorry for Mamadou Kamara. If only he had not undermined his mental health by practising an errant lifestyle. An errant lifestyle is travelling without a passport (he could have flown out of Mali - but getting a passport might be difficult there if not impossible). So his choice was to travel all the way from Mali thousands of miles away to Malta. He could have stayed anywhere on the way but no! Malta>Europe it had to be. Such determination has nothing to do with dignity and everything to do with undermining one's mental health. Once in Malta, he makes a run for it and sets up a family and is a fugitive for three whole years. His mental health suffers. Rightly or wrongly, Mr. Kamara made the wrong choices all along we all have to bear the consequences when, for whatever reason, we make the wrong choices. No surprises there!

Joe Fenech

Jul 5th 2012, 11:13

There is no need of a detnetion policy if you don't let them in.

Jesmond Farrugia

Jul 5th 2012, 11:04

The tragedy of Mr. Kamara's death is compounded by the fact that it was entirely avoidable.

Moving past the eschatological tensions that this case will provoke, Archbishop Cremona's proposal to review the detention policy is a sound one because detention is not a deterrent, for two reasons:

- Firstly, because Malta is NEVER the planned destination of irregular / illegal immigrants.
- Secondly, because detention in Malta (even for 18 months) is very often preferable to "freedom" in an area of persistent conflict or at least, in an area where civil liberties and employment cannot be guaranteed. In detention, food, shelter and basic healthcare is always provided.

It would make much more sense to work more closely with our friends in Libya and to dismantle the people trafficking networks that treat human beings as if they were raw commodities.

Colin Apap

Jul 5th 2012, 10:56

Belated, Timely voice for The Voiceless. Colin Apap

Steve Pace

Jul 5th 2012, 10:47

"Another question is whether this is another opportunity to reflect on the detention policy. Are there alternatives to the different situations which the immigrants find themselves in?

Can you suggest any other alternative ? Are you willing to let run lose people who enter our country ILLEGALLY with no identification papers ?

The bishops said this case should also lead society to reflect about its attitude to persons who sought asylum in Malta

The number of genuine asylum seekers is minimal compared to the number of ILLEGAL immigrants who do not qualify for such a status.

Mr Matthew Abela

Jul 5th 2012, 10:43

I see no reason why the detention system should change, its one of the few measures we have to lessen this great burden, if anything it should be strengthened. Firstly a strict deportation policy should be implemented. if the immigrant is not in danger then they should be immediately deported. As such only around5-10% would stay in Malta. Illegal immigrants should be checked for health, mental or legal issues, be should be given therapy if needed. They should also be educated about the Maltese way of life, the Maltese culture history, etc. If they fail to attend these classes(and pass) then they should never be allowed to obtain Maltese citizenship, this is what happens in USA, Canada, Australia ETC. They should then be trained to be able to find work. Should they fail to do this, then again Maltese citizenship should be out of the question. Should they fail any of the criteria above then they should stay in detention indefinitely as they are simply a danger to society, failing to integrate and creating divisions and segmentation in the Maltese society.

S. Camilleri

Jul 5th 2012, 10:42

I agree that this raises serious question ... but only the same kind of serious questions that are raised when anybody suffers injury or death whilst under 'protection' of the law ... Nardu Debono anyone???

It does not and should not in any way lead to questions about the present Detention Policy.

Lina Caruana

Jul 5th 2012, 10:39

I firmly believe That the justice system is more lacking in the values that human resources carry with them than the provision of laws. We need a campaign for rehabilitating society to its treasured culture of Cristian values of solidarity and charity in the full sense of the word. Now that all has been let loose on the sixth and ninth commandment we need to focus on the details of the eight for they have deteriorated to a bare minimum.