Journalist Victor Vella was at the receiving end of a nasty anonymous letter urging him to take his “clandestine family” back to Africa and calling for all refugees to be booted out.
Mr Vella and his wife are the adoptive parents of two children from Ethiopia, both aged four. As with all couples who adopt, the road to doing so could not have been easy and they deserve only praise and respect for having chosen it.
Giving young children a second chance in life, and the love they did not have before, is an act of nobility that certainly does not deserve the despicable racist sentiments expressed in the handwritten note to Mr Vella.
The letter, significantly, starts off with a reference to the New Year’s Eve Cologne attacks, in which over 500 women were reported being sexually assaulted or robbed by gangs of men described as mainly having an immigrant background, among them active asylum seekers.
As alarm and doubts over the country’s open-door policy to refugees spread in Germany, its government responded with plans to speedily deport foreigners found guilty of committing physical or sexual assault and other crimes. Angela Merkel is determined to get that law passed through Parliament as quickly as possible.
The response is appropriate in Germany’s current climate. Its hitherto generous attitude towards the wave of desperate men, women and children seeking refuge from the hell of their war-ravaged country was already under severe strain. But the shocking spate of incidents in Cologne is the most serious test it has faced and there must be a strong deterrent in place for those tempted to abuse their welcome this badly. The attacks were not just deeply offensive to women but to the German nation. Everything must be done to avoid a repeat.
However, it would be a grave mistake for people to allow it to arouse, and to give vent to, racist sentiment, as the writer of the letter to Mr Vella and, even more seriously, the anti-refugee demonstrators in Cologne have done.
Racism and similar prejudices have deep roots in the human psyche, whether connected with tribe, skin colour, nationality or even political or band club affiliation. It does not take much to spark off the tendency towards thoughtless generalisation that is so characteristic of these feelings, tarring all of “them” (as opposed to “us”) with the same brush.
The repulsive message to Mr Vella and the violent Cologne riots are only the visible manifestation of sentiments bubbling up all over Germany and the rest of Europe, as shown by the social media.
The Cologne assaults constitute a setback on several fronts.
The attackers have done an enormous disservice to the million other refugees who entered Europe this year. They have undermined the huge efforts being made by many – against ever-growing resistance – to accommodate and integrate migrants, increase tolerance and improve respect for other cultures. But the incident does not excuse a racist or xenophobic reaction, whether from rioters or anonymous letter writers.
A twofold response is needed.
Shared European values such as sexual equality, individual freedom and respect for the rule of law must be robustly defended. The message must be sent that these cultural norms cannot come under any form of threat. Chancellor Merkel’s deportation measure is the right approach. Stricter background checks on migrants might be another, fear of terrorism apart.
At the same time, governments across Europe, including Malta, must introduce or step up campaigns against racism in defence of that other great European value: tolerance.