The state of affairs in Marsa and Ħamrun is appalling. Quality of life is eroding by the day as a direct consequence of an unwritten policy of ghettoisation, which has turned Marsa and Ħamrun into regional magnets for economic migrants. Law enforcement has now been reduced to Bronx-style daily raids by police squads, visibly confirming the escalation of the crisis which is now seeping into the fabric of these communities.
Marsa is a monument to our collective cross-party policy failure in the management of immigration as much as it is a reflection of our stark hypocrisy.
On one hand, we tick the box of our Christian calling to provide aid and shelter to rescued immigrants, while on the other we close an eye (or both) to the living conditions of these people: an existence bereft of dignity and identity which sows frustration and desperation.
What’s Christian about leaving immigrants to live in a filthy and sub-standard ‘open centre’ not fit for animals, let alone human beings?
What’s Christian about having immigrants living 10 or more in a stable?
What’s Christian about having hundreds of immigrants daily hustling for a job on the streets in the morning in scenes which are more reminiscent of Third World countries than a modern, EU Member State boasting a surplus and unprecedented strong economic growth?
This monumental failure is now transforming itself into a monster, which is fuelling the despicable instincts of racism and paving the way for the self-fulfilling prophecy that immigrants are ‘taking over our country’. Racist elements are feeding on the pent-up anger of desperate residents, exploiting their legitimate concerns to ignite racial hatred and extremism.
As politicians, many of us shy away from expressing our concern on this matter due to the risk of having our arguments pigeonholed as racist. Unfortunately, this avoidance of debate on such a sensitive matter is in and of itself creating the space for racist arguments to take centre stage.
I am a strong advocate of aiding people in distress and those genuinely escaping persecution or unrest in their country. But rescue is only the first step. Relocation to other EU States may be the second. The real immigration politics kicks in right after, with the cornerstone being integration.
As Pope Francis clearly pointed out in a press conference last year, the danger of not integrating immigrants is that they become ghettoised.
Ghettos create sub-cultures, which rapidly replace the sense of community, making residents feel threatened and displaced in their own home towns
For starters, proper policy and planning should counter the evolution of ghettos.
Ghettos create sub-cultures, which rapidly replace the sense of community, making residents feel threatened and displaced in their own home towns.
In order to dance to the populist tune, we have avoided the integration debate many times purely for electoral purposes.
Advocating integration may be perceived as attracting immigrants, therefore it’s a no-go for the tribal psyche cursing this country. We need to balance an effective integration policy with a clear cap on the number of immigrants we can integrate.
We cannot accept more than we can integrate, but that should not be a smokescreen for not embracing integration.
Equally, immigration and homeland security policy need to work hand-in-glove in this matter. Being a high-risk location, the situation in Marsa cannot be addressed by the sporadic, heavy-handed raids but by adequate police resourcing and augmented patrols in the community.
The situation has festered into the chaos it is today for the simple reason that years of neglect and laissez-faire have now made way for the law of the jungle.
The hardship the Marsa and Ħamrun communities are facing goes way beyond party lines, and this is why I strongly advocate a common-sense approach, which enshrines human values that can be endorsed by both political parties.
In European fora we preach so much about burden-sharing. We rightly insist that our European counterparts share the immigration burden fairly with us.
We now have an obligation to put burden-sharing into practice at home and express our solidarity, support and unconditional commitment to the Marsa and Ħamrun communities. Anything less would be another classic case of stark hypocrisy.
Pope Francis remarkably summed up the guiding principles of immigration policy in his address to diplomats in January. He stressed the need for a common commitment to “ensuring that migrants can be integrated into the societies in which they are received without the latter sensing that their security, cultural identity and political-social stability are threatened.
“On the other hand, immigrants must not forget that they have a duty to respect the laws, culture and traditions of the countries in which they are received.”
Claudio Grech is the Opposition spokesmanon economic affairs and competitiveness.