The policy on illegal immigration, published by the government last week and due to be discussed at a national conference early next month, urges those responsible for detention centres to promote a sense of trust in the authorities and in the legal process detainees have to face. Launching the document, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said its aim was to establish parameters to ensure the impartial, fair and humane treatment of illegal immigrants and to introduce standard procedures and practices.
The policies, he continued, were "generous with those who deserve protection and tough with those who don't".
What happened yesterday during what started out as a peaceful protest by a sizeable number of irregular immigrants at Safi Barracks flies directly in the face of such statements and aims.
It would be dangerous to jump to any conclusions but eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence of the manner in which the military handled the situation prima facie gives rise to justified worry.
The illegal immigrants appear to have been protesting peacefully. The army's reaction therefore raises questions as to how prepared it really is to handle such situations. Crowd control is all about control but it would appear it was not the migrants who went out of control yesterday. What unfolded points to weak leadership and discipline under pressure, a mortal sin within a military environment.
Amnesty International, informed of the incident, immediately called for an inquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of the detainees. It noted that if such allegations are substantiated then the ill-treatment would be in clear violation of international treaties and standards ratified by Malta, as well as domestic law.
The Prime Minister was wise to lose no time in ordering an inquiry. The incident risks tarnishing the country's reputation as a democratic, peace-loving state where the rule of law and human rights are upheld.
One now awaits the outcome of the inquiry to find out why the confrontation took place, the sequence which led to it and who was responsible for what, as photographs of the incident show, was the use of excessive - some would say brutal - force. Officers should be held to account and given their own marching orders where necessary.
What took place was unbecoming a disciplined body, a blot on the reputation of the Armed Forces of Malta and on Malta itself.
Admittedly a soldier's life is not easy and dealing day in day out with so many foreigners having such different cultures and frustrated by months of detention is a taxing task. Soldiers are trained to be tough but they are also trained to be disciplined and to exercise restraint. The officer/s in charge must give a full account of the events and of his/their men's behaviour. And the migrants must be guaranteed security to be able to give their version freely.
The matter has to treated with urgency and delicately not only in the interest of the country's reputation but also to guard against fuelling racism.
In another editorial early last November, The Times noted the "shocking degree of racism" that emerged from comments made by members of the audience on the TV discussion programme Xarabank. It would be highly dangerous were yesterday's events to be interpreted as a reflection of the racism prevailing in this tiny country.