Statistics released by Eurostat last week showed that more than 28 per cent of Maltese children under the age of 17 are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This is not only higher than the European average but it also higher than the number of children at risk of poverty in Malta in 2010.
Worse still: while on average in Europe there are fewer poor children today than five years ago, in Malta there are more poor children today.
In absolute numbers, 21,000 children in Malta are at the risk of poverty. This is a figure we definitively should not be proud of. More so if on top of the number of children one adds their parents and those living alone, particularly old people who are at risk of poverty; and people reduced to poverty because of some form of disability or an unexpected disaster.
While the number of those at risk of poverty is on the increase, their voice is sidelined by the majority who are having it good, and consequently say they have no particular concerns.
Am I my brother’s keeper, Cain asked way back. A modern-day Cain would look at the ‘bright’ side: 72 per cent are not living at risk of poverty. Such reasoning is obscene and indecent.
A country’s greatness is based not on well-planned theatrics but on the way it treats those who are vulnerable. A country where the number of its children at risk of poverty rose over a period of five years is definitively not a country going in the right direction.
Politics should first and foremost be an exercise to better the quality of life of the poor and other vulnerable people, not an easy way of populating companies in shady jurisdictions. People who urgently need their quality of life bettered are those on the minimum wage as they are definitively at risk of poverty.
It is positive to note that Caritas and other Church groups are at the forefront of the local movement in favour of increasing the minimum wage. We cannot keep on boasting of an economy that is flourishing if the wealth that is being created is not spread equitably.
It is not acceptable that a relatively small number of big-moneyed bullies are being made super-rich by government policies while the number of children at risk of poverty is on the increase. It is not acceptable to have a master plan proposed for Paceville which will reward big business at the expense of those who live there and against the interests of small businesses.
It is not acceptable that a relatively small number of big-moneyed bullies are being made super-rich by government policies while the number of children at risk of poverty is on the increase
The justification of the right-wing thinking behind several economic decisions that have been taken is that money then trickles down to the majority. Experience shows that drops trickle down while the big-moneyed bullies get drunk on excess. This is why Pope Francis, like other popes before him, condemned this concept, which has never been validated by facts.
“The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor,” Pope Francis said. “What happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger” and the excluded keep on waiting.
A day before the election of Donald Trump, Pope Francis gave an interview to Eugenio Scalfari of La Repubblica. When asked what he thinks of Trump the Pope’s answer shows what concerns him most: how politics and politicians affect the life of the poor.
“I do not pass judgment on people and politicians; I simply want to understand the suffering that their approach causes the poor and the excluded.”
Politicians should get their priorities right.
During that same interview Pope Francis made it clear that politicians should not be simply concerned with the poor and the excluded who are citizens of their countries. Refugees and migrants who are forced to flee their homeland should also be protected. Such protection probably does not earn politicians many votes, but it still is the right thing to do.
One hopes that the appeals made by 16 Maltese NGOs for humane treatment of the 33 male migrants living in Malta, who all of a sudden had their status of ‘temporary humanitarian protection’ taken away from them and are being kept in detention, will not fall on deaf ears. They do not have hundreds of thousands to buy our prostituted citizenship but they are endowed with human dignity.
The Pope’s appeal about migrants and refugees are directed to the Church as well as government.
The Church in Malta has been on the forefront of humanitarian work with refugees of all creeds and ethnicities. A lot was done and is still being done, particularly by the Migrants’ Commission and the Jesuits. Lodging in open centres, legal advice, monetary help, assistance in finding work, and support to integrate in the community are a few of the contributions that the Church makes. This is something to be proud of. But such work is never enough.
Last September, Pope Francis appealed for more to be done. He said that each parish in Europe should shelter refugees. It is with disappointment that in spite of the efforts of the Church’s migrant commission only 14 Maltese parishes and four religious communities took heed of last September’s appeal by the Pope. One would have expected more enthusiasm and cooperation.
There is still time to do more. There is a duty to do more.
■ According to the latest news from the United States, Hillary Clinton has approximately a million votes more than Donald Trump. Had the US had the same system as Malta, Clinton would have been elected. We would have been saying that voters have rejected the extremist, that they acted intelligently, that polls got it right and that the traditional media are still effective.
Trump was right when in 2012 he had tweeted that “the electoral college is a disaster for democracy”. Occasionally he does say the right thing.
joseph.borg@um.edu.mt