Risks of racism, xenophobia
The incident in which Mamadou Kamara, a Malian migrant, was allegedly killed while in the custody of the authorities is alarming.
I will not ponder on the case itself. That is for our justice system to do and it is good that it has immediately sprung into action with a number of people arraigned and an inquiry promptly launched.
I have consistently supported our armed forces for an excellent job in very difficult circumstances. Over the years, they have saved thousands of migrants from the jaws of death.
And we owe it to many a hero in our forces who have readily risked their own lives to save that of others on the high seas.
But this incident raises serious concerns that cannot be ignored.
The most grave ramification is the dastardly resurgence of racism and xenophobia. For the nature of this incident and of some of the reactions to it have brought back this reality right to the fore.
It is a serious problem and it has been evident for quite some time.
It ranges from the nature of many a comment on this esteemed newspaper’s online portal to some dodgy Facebook groups. But it also includes populist rhetoric dished out by some politicians that serve no purpose other than to foment further racism and xenophobia. Sadly, the Labour Party has fallen prey to this dangerous game at its highest levels.
Where does all this leave us?
It leaves us with a society, supposedly renowned for its friendliness and hospitality, imperceptibly poisoned by fear and hatred, a society that risks losing its compassion and its sense of humanity.
We cannot let this happen. For racism and xenophobia lead to a vicious circle.
Migrants are first shunted and marginalised and they end up in situations of poverty and deprivation which, in turn, trigger further racist sentiments. And we end up all the poorer as a society. So what should we do? Malta’s situation is particular.
For nearly a decade now, we have been facing disproportionate pressures with a migratory influx that reaches us because of our geographic position. Our society has been overwhelmed and the situation has steadily given rise to fear. Hence, to racism and xenophobia.
But we can still overcome them. Firstly by not succumbing to fear and to populist rhetoric. This takes strength and resilience, courage and determination, which are not easy to come by. But we are not shorn of them either. Second, by addressing the ignorance from which xenophobia often emanates.
We need to raise the level of awareness on why migrants leave their country and why they arrive here in the first place. We need to explain why we have no control over the numbers who cross but why we still have a duty to save people’s lives and to bring them to shore. We need to explain our unstinting work to reduce the numbers who arrive without forgetting our responsibility, as a civilised nation, to take good care of those we save.
Many people become migrants because they are fleeing for their lives and looking for protection. They are not coming here because they want to live off our taxes or to impose their habits and culture on us. Many will eventually move on and thousands have already done so. But, yes, some will stay and will need to be integrated into our society.
We need to explain better why the phenomenon is as volatile as it is temporary. It can ebb away as quickly as it comes. It depends not just on the situation in the countries of origin but also on the situation in countries through which they transit, such as Libya.
Stability and rule of law in Libya are key and last weekend’s first democratic election will, hopefully, be a first step in that direction.
But awareness alone is not enough. It must go hand in hand with an immigration and asylum policy that is as humane as it is firm. A policy that assures people that the authorities are doing everything within their power to deal with the situation effectively, despite the obvious constraints of our limited resources.
A policy that reduces the numbers without jeopardising lives. That protects those who need protection but that firmly returns those who have no right to stay. That ropes in the solidarity of other countries to help us share this grave responsibility, difficult as it might be.
This is indeed what the authorities in Malta have been doing over the past years. And their efforts have been laudable.
It is this policy that I too have been pursuing as your representative in the European Parliament over the past years. I could have easily turned a blind eye and followed a less controversial issue. But I did not.
Mamadou Kamara cannot have died in vain. His death must serve as an eye-opener to us all about the real challenges that we face as a society.
Before it is too late.
We do not need to be divided on this too.
Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.
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Alfred J. McEwen
Jul 19th 2012, 14:11
Alfred J. McEwen
Simon Busuttil is a politician who takes the moral high ground in his support of integrating illegal immigrants into our society. He continues to bury his head firmly in the sand as he rants on about letting illegal unknowns who arrived here with no tangible identity as to where they are really from, and who they are to be `absorbed` in the community. The Immigration act should be re-written to allow all and sundry who are unidentified to freely stay in this country and roam freely among the population....I think not !!
The Maltese People are not interested about being made aware as to why illegal immigrants are leaving their country, we are acutely aware on the other hand that we are being swamped by them and being allowed to do so by politicians such as the likes of Busuttil, in order to achieve their political ends and that is the crux of the matter. He was elected to SERVE the interests of the nation not to bring about a FORCIBLE and UNWANTED change to our society, no politician should be permitted by the electorate to do that, and that sentiment should be reflected at the voting booths. Why don`t you Dr. Busuttil, go to Libya which is the main transit point and negotiate with the Arabs there to stop them coming to Malta, Now that would be something worth doing, instead of poncing around and extolling the virtues (or the lack of them) of integrating illegal immigrants who have entered this country unlawfully and by the way Dr. Busuttil it`s OUR society not yours that you are messing around with, and your messing around is getting people angrier every day that passes.
John Azzopoardi
Jul 12th 2012, 23:56
Mr busittil is an opportunist and wants the pN leadership. It will be a big mistake if this happens as he keeps flip flopping. First, it was burden sharing and it went no where. No he is calling his fellow maltese who elect him racist becuase they are against illegal migrants. And get this. Malta with a population gets 1000 illegal migrants in 6 months with a population of 400,00, and Italy with a population of 60 million gets 1300. And this man is telling us that we are racist and xenophobic becuase we are concerned about illegal migration. What hypocracy.
Charles Grixti
Jul 12th 2012, 14:22
Throughout history, people have always fought each other over land. Most wars were caused by land disputes or the need of expansion. The Europeans took over the lands of Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, because the latter could not defend themselves or did not forsee that giving shelter to a few settlers could have had such consequences.
Therefore the fact that the Maltese are objecting to having foreingers coming in to stay in large numbers is because such an action is bound to cause alarm - this is not Racism or xenophobia, it is part of human nature to want to protect from others what they have - these even happens amongst us the Maltese - otherwise the Courts would not be filled with cases and lawsuits disputing boundry walls, property ownership etc. I do not know where Dr. Busuttil is coming from and why he is making such negative comments about the people that he was elected to represent.
Andy Farrugia
Jul 12th 2012, 16:56
"I do not know where Dr. Busuttil is coming from and why he is making such negative comments about the people that he was elected to represent."
It might be pertinent to point out that Dr Busuttil inhabits the hallowed, gilded, rarified atmosphere in BruxLux (a word I coined) and thus these matters do not affect him in the least. He is ABOVE all that.
John Azzopoardi
Jul 11th 2012, 23:23
What hypocracy. Now that Mr. Busittil is talkling about racism, xenophobia. And the whole PN is saying the same thing when they all know very well that the vast majority of the nationalist party supporters are against illegal migration. /So to state that we are now against illegal migrants coming to Malta, we are being called racism, xenophobia. How hypocritical. Isn't this our right. Look at the US. Most people are against illegal migrants coming to the US, but they are not labelled racism, xenophobia. And they expect to get our votes. Shame.
Arthur Muscat
Jul 11th 2012, 18:51
Dear Dr Busuttil, what regrettaby happened to the Malian illegal immigrant has little to do with racism and xenophobia, it is too simplistic and convenient to say so. It has more and a lot to do with serious (a minister was recently made to resign) short-comings in the administration of our armed forces and seemingly our police. We have a bad record of people having "fatal accidents" whilst in custody. We keep on having also so many "fatal accidents" caused by so called bouncers. What has and what is being seriously done about this sorry situation ? Not very much.
Please spare us the standard rhetoric on racism and xenophobia. Why don't we sort out our act and dedicate resources ( yes financed by our taxes ) to set up decent detention centers fit for humans. Let us man these detention centers professionally with adequate and decently trained custodians and medical staff. It is unfair and dishonest to leave ill-prepared soldiers, frightfully undermanned and through lack of training rendered incapable of exercising their difficult duties. Politicians wake up ! Are we deliberately keeping detention centers in a shambles to make the case for the removal of the detention policy ? No, I refuse even to remotely think so.
On the illegal economic migrants problem the EU has horribly let us down. Burden sharing is a joke. Facts tell us that barely 5% of arrivals qualify as refugees, why should we be made to put up with the 95% who without our approval or invitation, just get on a boat, destroy their identification papers, and decide to come and stay. I may sympathise with their plight but I do not accept that overcrowded Malta should pay the price.
The EU , or rather politically correct officials, talk down to us, they call us racists and tell us we must start proceedings to integrate illegal immigrants. Yes perhaps we should collaborate, we can start by issuing proper documentation to them, including passports ! But no, watch it, the EU will tell us that we would be cheating since we would be offloading people on Europe when Europe manifestly does not want them ! (remember France, Italy, Ventimiglia !!)
Seems we cannot win but at least spare us the politically correct raising of the spectre of racism and xenophobia.
I respect your responsible and humanitarian views and I respect your position on this issue but I do not think they offer much of a solution to the problem.
angelo cilia
Jul 11th 2012, 18:11
So Africans expect us to look after them .
Why can't they look after themselves in that big old rich continent called Africa for a change instead of invading us and crying racism if they don't get their way.
What is wrong with these people ?
Kurt Waschnig
Jul 11th 2012, 16:57
I have been an avid reader of The Times of Malta for some years and I consider The Times of Malta as a high quality newspapers.
Especially I enjoy reading the Editorials and Opinions and I find in them principles I would like to mention.
The Times of Malta is obliged to truth telling, freedom and independence; justice, humaneness, and contributing to the social good .
The Times of Malta has been applying and following these principles.
The Times of Malta gives readers the opportunity to comment on various articles and reports and the comments are published.
Lot of comments on migrants contain hatred, hostility to foreigners (illegal migrants), racism and xenophobia.
I would like to ask the Editor in Chief of The Times of Malta to consider seriously if comments on migrants that contain hatred, hostility to migrants, racism and xenophobia should be published?
This is indeed a serious question, I ask, because freedom of speech is a decisive tenet of a constitutional state.
The death of Mamadou Kamara who was allegedly killed is a gruesome and terrible incident and Simon Busuttil is right this incident raises serious concerns that cannot be ignored.
There is indeed a dastardly resurgence of racism and xenophobia. Every form of racism is a terrible problem and an attack against humanity.
Every human being must raise her/his voice against racism, hostility to foreigners, hatred and xenophobia.
If that trend is not stopped Malta will lose its friendliness and hospitality and Maltese society even risks losing its compassion and sense of humanity.
To defend civil and human rights even democracy demands strength and resilience, courage and determination, which are not easy to come by.
Illegal migrants live in misery and poverty in their countries, they fights daily to survive, no jobs, no health care, no education, no social welfare system, no future for their families, wives and children, exposed to torture, no legal system.
Full of despair because they do not know how to feed their children.
Therefore is it natural to flee their impoverished countries and to cross the Mediterranean. They risk their life but their despair is stronger and alone yesterday 54 migrants lost their life.
It is a fact that many migrants will stay forever in Malta. Most of them who stay in Malta do not want to live off “our taxes” like Simon Busutill says.
These migrants must be integrated , language courses in English and Maltese should them offered and of course jobs. They will become tax payers, marry , having a family.
This trend cannot be stopped and must be accepted.
There will be a review of the detention policy. And again and again migrants must be treated with dignity and respect.
Best regards
Kurt Waschnig Oldenburg Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
angelo cilia
Jul 11th 2012, 18:01
Get your government in Germany to take them off our hands Kurt, there is just too many of them for us to look after.
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 18:08
"Illegal migrants live in misery and poverty in their countries, they fight daily to survive, no jobs, no health care, no education, no social welfare system, no future for their families, wives and children, exposed to torture, no legal system." Look who is talking? Why don't you try to convince Heir Angela Merkel to open the gates for these illegal immigrants, grant them all a free pass and visas to enter Germany and see how well the German people will welcome them. And why are you interfering with the politics of Malta? Germany tried to do that once before or maybe you have forgotten that.
Jesmond Micallef
Jul 11th 2012, 19:47
GL Calleja,
May I ask, but are you a maltese european and what exactly is your last sentence refering to in relation to Germany ?
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 20:42
@ Mr Micallef, if you don't know why, then maybe you are too young to remember. I suggest you study your Maltese history and or ask your parents or grandparents what our Maltese families had to go through to remain free. Maybe around 1941, 1942 and 1943. Maybe too young to remember? They called that WWll.
Jesmond Micallef
Jul 11th 2012, 22:20
GL Calleja,
I suspected that.
Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck said in a recent speech that freedom should never be taken for granted. He said this while attending an official event commemorating a people's uprising in the former DDR of 1953 in which violence claimed the lives of many people.
I also knew a German WW2 veteran who fought during the Monte Casino campaign. He prayed that if he ever was taken POW, it would be by the Americans rather then the Soviets. He also had a teenage brother who fought at Stalingrad whom he never saw again. His brother doesn't even have a grave.
This man spent the rest of his working life living in the DDR, only to enjoy "freedom" for a 15 year period, before he died of old age.
What did this German soldier fight for ?
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 16:50
Simon Busuttil why don't you fight the fight for burden sharing? That is what you should be fighting very fiercely for because so far the burden sharing by the other EU States has been a wash out and you know it. All of a sudden you want to jump on the band wagon and pretend you care. Why not take care of the Maltese people you were elected to represent as a Maltese Mep? And YES unfortunately we are very divided on this too.
Patrick Zammit
Jul 11th 2012, 13:49
Dr Busuttil conveniently forgets that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are not refugees at all but economic immigrants. They destroy their passports/ids just before being "saved" so that they can invent any country of origin/ at will and our authorities have to accept the illegal immigrants' stories without having anything to check with to see if the illegals are saying the truth or not.
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 17:48
But for whatever you do, the authorities ask for your ID card? Coming illegally into this country is a free for all, because the EU and the UNHCR say so. Even when riding a bus or applying for Free medicine you have to present your ID Card, but entering this country illegally, you do not required to present documents. And for that you get free housing, free clothing, free food and sometimes a little pocket money and maybe a mobile phone.
M. Schembri
Jul 11th 2012, 13:23
@Joseph Cauchi Senior
Maybe you are genuinely against "illegal immigrants (and NOT refugees)" but most of the people Dr Busuttil is talking about don't even make that difference. For them they're just black.
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 17:34
This has nothing to do with colour, this has to do with illegal immigration, this is about people violating our space, uninvited. .
Charles W. Sammut
Jul 11th 2012, 12:44
Why doesn't Dr Busuttil just admit that his hare brained idea of burden sharing was doomed from it's inception. He now wants to cover it up by accusing us of racism and xenophobia.
And please, look up the word "populist", it also means "democratic", what the people want. But then the E.U.S.S.R. has lost its democratic credentials long ago.
Louis Gialanze
Jul 11th 2012, 12:43
Dr Busuttill, you and your mentor got us into this bind on mongrelizing Malta (by stealth) through the PN's "EU or Bust" objective. The electorate did not give the Fenech Adami administration the mandate to do so.We voted for EU membership but got the African Union instead.
Illegal immigration is an existentiall threat to the people of Malta and the political elite cannot run this island as if it was their personal fiefdom.
Your remit now is to clean up the mess or the issue will come back to haunt the PN party for many years to come.
Joseph Cauchi Senior
Jul 11th 2012, 11:43
The PN should avoid the Racist card as this will not make the party win votes!
What the people are concerned is the fact that this influx of illegal immigrants cannot be curtailed or even controlled!
Whoever party manages to offer a plausible solution to this crises, will definitely gain the more votes; and this would be enough to tip the balance for an election victory!
So, please can our politicians understand the importance of this situation and let’s face facts!
JC.
Evarist Saliba
Jul 11th 2012, 11:30
I feel that this article is a bit premature.
It is true that reactions to this regretable incident have varied, and some are to be condemned. What is wrong with most, if not all of them, is that the racist tag has been attached to this incident. I shall not be pointing fingers at who is responsible for this.
Let us remember that this is not the first incident when a detained person, or a person who was manifestly a danger to those around him, has lost their life at the hands of those responsible for maintaining law and order.
Would the outcome in this particular case have been different if the person, who has evidently caused a lot of trouble, was Maltese? Does it follow that since the person is not Maltese, racism must be involved?
Such an assumption could easily lead to racist reactions. Let the facts come out clearly in a proper judicial process before comments are posted.
Joseph Cauchi Senior
Jul 11th 2012, 11:29
Dear Simon,
Why is the PN so concerned about racism?
What the people are so concerned is the fact that the influx of illegal immigrants (and NOT refugees) is a worrying factor, as it seems that the ‘famous’ burden-sharing is only myth!
Maltese people do not care what colour of the skin, an illegal immigrant has, but the fact that most of these illegal immigrants come to our shores clandestinely and without proper documents.
Would you, Dr. Simon enter a civilized country without any documents?
Why do these illegal immigrants always throw away their documents when approaching our shores, unless they have something to hide?
If this is not suspicious then I do not know what is!
JC.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Jul 11th 2012, 12:22
I am shocked to see that racism does not bother you. That is disgusting - but I suppose symptomatic of the old PN. Your other contribution above seems to be saying: don't bother condemming racisim as this will lose votes for the PN. I just cannot believe that you would allow racism in Malta a free hand so as not to lose votes for the PN. I am utterly and totally disgusted with these comments.
GL Calleja
Jul 11th 2012, 16:44
Mr Camilleri as far as I know this is a free democracy and nobody can force us to accept or do not accept somebody. How would you feel if the government insists that you take at least 2 or 3 of the illegal immigrants into your house to integrate and live with your family? How would you feel? Because i would feel violated and I think so would you. Don't forget that these are uninvited guests and yet they are demanding their rights, which are? You have your opinion and others have theirs, respect their opinion so they will respect yours.
J Degabriele
Jul 11th 2012, 09:47
Re my comment above, I wouild like to clarify the last sentence. Racism and xenophobia (unless inherent in a human being) are the result of too many too quickly, as we are being inundated. If it were a question of helping these thousands along and keeping only a few, it would be a totally different matter!
Louise Vella
Jul 11th 2012, 09:37
Simon Busuttil has forgotten to inform us that Malta is the most generous EU country in giving refugee and humanitarian status. It gives such status at twice as high a rate as any other EU country. This shows the generosity of Malta’s Refugee Commissioner, Mr Mario Guido Friggieri, who unfortunately reaches retirement age in December this year.
James Dimech
Jul 11th 2012, 09:24
Very well said, very well written.
Louise Vella
Jul 11th 2012, 09:21
In this article Simon Busuttil has lowered his rhetoric compared to two years ago. On March 28, 2010, the Sunday Times carried an article (Low racist crime figures 'shocking') which said: “Just four people were charged in court for racist crimes in the last 10 years, a figure described as "shocking" by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil… Dr Busuttil expressed shock at the low figures, saying he was concerned about the rising tide of xenophobia and racism.” So in March 2010 Dr Busuttil thought the Maltese people should have tougher laws, or that the laws should be applied more severely, so that thousands (including thousands of PN voters) would be taken to court for so-called ‘racist crimes’. It is a consolation that Dr Busuttil has not repeated his ‘shocking’ comments in the present article. I wonder why.
Please choose the reason of your report below: