Mgr Alfred Vella’s reaction when he peered into the disorderly room of a Somali woman hosted at one of the Church’s centres was to chide her and ask her to grab a broom.
“She broke down in tears, but I insisted she had to keep her room in order, put her clothes away in the wardrobe and sweep the floor. She asked: what is a broom? What is a wardrobe?” the Emigrants’ Commission director recounted.
“She had never needed a broom, as she lived in a hut and the floor indoors and the ground outdoors were equally covered in dust. She needed someone to explain to her things that we take for granted.”
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Mgr Vella was speaking to the Times of Malta following the death of Victoria, the Nigerian girl who passed away last month after she was rushed to hospital from a residence in Żabbar. The seven-year-old died from aplastic anaemia, according to her death certificate.
Professionals had expressed concern with the Times of Malta that there would be a repeat of the tragedy, unless action was taken about systemic gaps.
Trauma is not contained within a particular episode that leaves some scars
Mgr Vella did not comment about the case, which is still being investigated, but instead spoke about the general situation of migrants from a humanitarian point of view.
“Sometimes we question people’s decisions and behaviour, or lack of action in particular circumstances,” he said.
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“But we need to understand that the trauma people experience manifests itself in mental stress and this can lead them to reason out things differently from the way they are expected to.”
At the Emigrants’ Commission offices in Valletta, Mgr Vella meets several people who have developed mental stress. This is often the result of the trauma they experienced before and during their trip to Malta, heightened by the fact that they have to settle down in a completely different environment from what they are used to in their home country.
The trauma, he explains, is not contained within a particular episode that leaves some scars, but is a process of accumulated stress: “When you treat an infection and it leaves scars, even just looking at the scars may rekindle pain.”
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Mgr Vella believes that there needs to be a unit – not a psychological asylum – that tackles mental stress as a result of trauma experienced by displaced people. Migrants need tailor-made treatment because of their specific trauma, he explains.
Asked whether Maltese emigrants had experienced similar stress, Mgr Vella said that no matter the reason and circumstances behind the departure, leaving a home country always had an impact on people’s mental well-being.
“The Maltese who emigrated from Malta were well-prepared, most often equipped with the necessary skills and documentation. They also had someone at the other side to welcome them.
“There still was a substantial number who became homesick. Let alone migrants who come here irregularly and go through all that trauma on the journey.”
While migrants needed to do their part, acculturalisation, integration and inclusion were all processes that took time, Mgr Vella added.
Referring to Maltese people’s experience in host countries like the US, Canada and Australia, among others, he noted that he had met first generation emigrants who were still “holding back” several decades after leaving the island.