A classic quote in the film Hotel Rwanda sums up perfectly the way the Western world views the atrocities happening in Africa.
A Rwandan man welcomes the fact a journalist has shot footage of the carnage for the world to see since it is the only way politicians might intervene.
The journalist replies: “I think if people see this footage they’ll say, ‘oh my God that’s horrible,’ and then go on eating their dinners.”
Sadly, that attitude is synonymous with most political leaders who only act when the problem hits them directly.
The Lampedusa tragedy, which claimed hundreds of lives of asylum seekers, elicited the usual chorus of solidarity from European leaders, including our own prime minister. But, in reality, how many of them are guilty of doing nothing when the warning signs are there? Showing solidarity after death is no substitute for showing solidarity during life.
Despite EU attempts, European countries have failed to hammer out a practical concept of solidarity, one which would try to save migrants from drowning. Leaders, including our prime minister, are too bothered ensuring they keep the problem at bay and pushing their populist agendas.
Apart from humanitarian organisations, a solitary voice of compassion is Pope Francis, who prophetically chose Lampedusa for his first overseas trip and lashed out at the “globalisation of indifference”. He went further when he urged monasteries to welcome migrants.
Our selfish society will simplistically argue migrants should never have taken the trip in the first place. But the simple fact that migrants know the huge risk of dying at sea is a clear indication that most are not simply looking for jobs but actually fleeing persecution.
Joseph Muscat rightly expressed solidarity with the victims but did not fail to say Malta should not be left alone to deal with “illegal” immigration, contradicting the compassion he tried to relay.
Dr Muscat is swiftly undoing what NGOs, the independent media and the former prime minister worked so hard to attain in the last few years – eliminating the word ‘illegal’. But most politicians will use any term to appease the masses.
It is also ironic to hear Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela chastising his own party’s ‘equal opportunities officer’ and councillor Rachel Tua when she is, to an extent, mirroring her leader’s views.
Writing on Facebook, she suggested Malta should follow Australia’s example and practise push-backs. Didn’t our government make the same inhumane threat last July? She freely used the word ‘illegal’ to refer to migrants, many of whom have a legal right to seek protection.
She said she would stick up for the Maltese first and foremost. Now where have we heard that before?
Dr Abela is right when he says that until global injustices are addressed irregular immigration will prevail. But until then, is Malta doing enough to stop portraying African migrants as criminals, gold-diggers and people who should not venture out of Marsa? Is success achieved by showing migrants at sea the way to Italy? Are politicians guilty of inciting racism?
Pending a long-term solution to Africa’s woes, it is our responsibility to treat people fleeing danger and untold poverty with the dignity they deserve. Failing that, the Lampedusa tragedy will become just another horrible news headline we will forget about in the coming days.