Timesofmalta.com announced yesterday that a new-born baby girl and nine women were among a group of 25 migrants brought to Malta this morning on an AFM patrol boat after being picked up from a drifting dinghy. Another 43 migrants were picked up by a cargo ship which is transferring them to a patrol boat off Marsaxlokk.
The usual exponents of the xenophobic right were very quick to log in their pearls of wisdom. In the present brouhaha about an early election, politics, besides their racism, made its way some of the comments.
A certain Galea expects "to read in any party's electoral manifest that a firm stand be taken towards the repatriation of illegals to where they have embarked from." Ellul could not "understand why these Africans are still coming to bankrupt EU" adding for good measure that "Malta can barely feed itself". Michael Borg sarcastically asked us to "prepare free electricity , water , hot water, heaters, food , mobile cards, police , soldiers ( their pay) , hospital , work without paying tax and NI, crimes, and the lists goes on . While we struggle to make ends meet!!! Charity begins at home." (I charitably corrected the myriad mistakes that infested that comment.) And Seychell even found a way to introduce GonziPN in the discussion.
By mere coincidence these immigrants came to our shores on the very day – January 15 - when the Church is observing the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, a commemoration instituted by St. Pius X. Issued in September, Pope Benedict's message for the day is entitled "Migration and the New Evangelization."
A couple of paragraphs from this message are, I think, in order to show the contrast there is between the position of Catholics on the subject with the position of many who post their comments on line.
Pope Benedict wrote that:
"Asylum seekers, who fled from persecution, violence and situations that put their life at risk, stand in need of our understanding and welcome, of respect for their human dignity and rights, as well as awareness of their duties. Their suffering pleads with individual states and the international community to adopt attitudes of reciprocal acceptance, overcoming fears and avoiding forms of discrimination, and to make provisions for concrete solidarity also through appropriate structures for hospitality and resettlement programmes. All this entails mutual help between the suffering regions and those which, already for years, have accepted a large number of fleeing people, as well as a greater sharing of responsibilities among States.
"The press and the other media have an important role in making known, correctly, objectively and honestly, the situation of those who have been forced to leave their homeland and their loved ones and want to start building a new life.
"Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, by enhancing what is reciprocally enriching, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person, the safeguarding of the family, access to dignified housing, to work and to welfare."
The contrast between the attitudes of Catholics and non-Catholics on this topic is enormous. The starting point for Catholics is the due respect for the dignity of these persons who come to our shores in the direst of situations. The first question that comes to mind is: How can we help them? Quite naturally Catholics do understand the problems that the unregulated arrival of vast numbers of foreigners can cause. However, this has not been the case for a very long stretch of time now.
The number of migrants who came to Malta in an irregular way is by far less than the number that came to our shores some years back. Our humanity binds us to give all the help we can give. Our resources are what they are, that is limited, more so in the current international situation. This is not an excuse for us to abandon our responsibility but it is a reason why we should continue to insist that other nations help us shoulder this burden, which is now lighter than it was prieviously.
NOTE From Louise Vella
Kindly note that I, Louise Vella of Ħ'Attard, have nothing to do with comments on immigration written by my namesake.