Last Sunday I borrowed the title and concluding sentence of my commentary to The Sunday Times of Malta from the Roman poet Terence. The whole sentence written by Terence is: "I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.”
It is interesting to note that Terence was taken to Rome as a slave by the Roman Senator Terentius Lucanus. He took care of Terence and saw to it that he was well educated. The Senator than freed his slave who went on to become a famous playwright.
The point I wanted to make is that the discussion about irregular migrants and refugees in Malta reveals a lot about how we look at our humanity and about our relationship with “the other”.
The last few days the debate continued in the Maltese mainstream media and social networks. Aditus was dragged over the coals by some and praised by others for its controversial proposal that these migrants should be given the right to vote for local councils. (Aditus made quite a good number of suggestions but this particular one was that which was given publicity by the media, and, consequently became the subject of debate.) Among the detractors of Aditus was Joe Grima, a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister. Joe Grima lost his programme on One TV (or was it One Radio) for saying much less. That, however, was before the election when it was decreed that being prim and proper was the order of the day. The election passed, such order has been scrapped.
The President of the Republic dared to say something about respect and integration. She was hounded by many on the social networks.
I received a very interesting reaction to my piece from a certain Sarah Springham who has just moved from London to Gozo. She lived near Brixton where races mix, though they do not always necessarily match.
Ms Springham wrote that:
“It took a long time for muliculturalism to work there, and in some parts of the UK it has resulted in ghettoisation. The path of integration is equally beset with difficulty, especially when you’re really dealing with colour prejudice rather than racism as such.”
In her letter she made a number of practical proposals which, after obtaining her permission, I am sharing with you for your comments and reaction.
“1. Stop criminalising irregular migrants by detaining them for months on end. This serves only to reinforce stereotypes.
2. Get migrants out in the community. Funding should be made available for the setting up of such things as restaurants (Somali food for instance is delicious), coffee shops, and other small businesses. That brings cultural diversity to everyday experience and helps break down barriers.
3. Set up a Department of African Studies at the University.
4. Organise an African Music Festival. Some great music comes out of Africa. I was at Earth Garden 2014 and African music was not really represented.”
She concluded her email thus:
“It saddens me to see so many young men and women who have suffered so much pain and indignity in their search for a better life being excluded from society in Malta, This will result in a great many problems if some kind of familiarisation is not orchestrated soon.”
What do you think?