This heading is disgusting and shocking in more senses than one. I typed it, erased it, retyped it and erased it several times. I chose it as it represents fairly and squarely the attitude of several Maltese. Therefore, what is really shocking is not the heading but the attitude it represents.
Ahmed Bugre, a Maltese citizen of Ghanaian origin and currently director of the Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants recently recounted a horror story on RTK. Bugre said that he was informed by Mater Dei Hospital of the release of a migrant who had been injured in a car accident.
When Bugre met the man he could not believe that the injuries were compatible with a car accident. The migrant, like Bugre, was from Ghana, so both could speak their native language. It transpired that while working on a construction site in Buġibba the man fell three storeys. His employer pressured him to lie about the accident and say that he had been hit by a car. The migrant, fearing for his job, complied. The hospital bill was €5,000. Sopra corna bastonate (to add insult to injury), he also lost his job!
The migrant feels helpless and is afraid to report the abuse to the police. Do you blame him when the attitude he is confronted with day in, day out, is that he is just a black man, an inferior species of a minor god? Disgusting!
Murder most foul
The horror of the above pales into insignificance when compared to the cold-blooded murder of Cisse Lassana last month. A 44-year-old man was killed in his prime. Another two were injured during the same drive-by shooting in Birżebbuġa. They were leisurely walking in Triq tal-Ġebel, probably on their way to the open centre.
The horrendous crime they committed, for which one paid with his life and the other two with their injuries, is that they are black.
Lassana, like everyone else, had red blood running in his veins. His heart, like that of all white people, enjoyed love and suffered pain. His eyes smiled and cried. His mind dreamt of a better future for himself and his family. His three children, still living in the Ivory Coast, are now orphans. Who can console them and console his wife, parents, siblings and friends?
Has blackness become a capital offence?
Indians? As worthless as black
I phoned Josef Vella, CEO of UĦM Voice of the Workers, to explore further his claim that foreign workers are paid as little as €1 an hour. He said he had heard the story during a business breakfast organised by the Labour Party, an activity for which the Prime Minister was present.
During that activity, Vella continued, Alfred Grixti, CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, reported about a case passed on to the Foundation by the police. It concerned a group of Indians who were being paid €1 an hour. To make matters worse, commented Vella, the money was not paid to them but sent to an agency back home in India.
Has blackness become a capital offence?
One has to keep in mind that the minimum wage in India is under €2 a day. A 10-hour day in Malta would thus give these Indians a wage five times higher than what they get back home.
Many Maltese racists would not care. For them, Indians are as worthless as blacks.
I consider this position as obscene and scandalous. Such foreign workers are being treated as if they were slaves. Therefore I believe it is imperative for the police to enlighten the public about developments, if any have been registered. It is also important that the Foundation for Social Welfare Services informs us about the help that these workers have been given, assuming that they have been helped.
Migration: a concern
Within this context the result of the recent Eurobarometer survey is not surprising. It showed that 72 per cent of Maltese respondents think that immigration should be discussed more readily during the electoral campaign as for them, this is a matter of concern. The concern expressed by the Maltese was almost equally high in all age brackets, though men were slightly less concerned than women. This statistic becomes more relevant when compared to the EU average of 44 per cent of respondents.
It could be that this high level of concern was partly the result of the very large increase in the number of migrants reaching the Maltese shores. This number shot up from 25 in 2016 and 23 people in 2017 to 1,455 during 2018.
Use responsible rhetoric
But it could also be that this high level of concern is partly the result of the rhetoric used by political leaders when addressing the issue. The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency Office in Malta, was more than justified last week to appeal for responsible rhetoric and constructive dialogue when discussing refugee, asylum and migration issues during the run-up to the European elections.
Adrian Delia has been regularly speaking about the influx of foreigners to Malta. He has emphasised over and over again that he was referring to what he considered to be an unplanned influx of foreigners, and not specifically to refugees. However, given the general context I don’t think that this is necessarily what all audiences were perceiving him to say. And I am not certain that he was heavily disappointed by the misperception. Lawrence Gonzi quite rightly told Times Talk that he would not have used the same rhetoric that Delia is using.
A very unfortunate upping of the negative rhetoric was made by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during the first debate he had with Dr Delia. He said: “I do not want the Maltese to be collecting rubbish in the streets. Every job should be dignified but I do not want a situation where the foreigner is comfortable and the Maltese breaking their backs.” Both Delia and Moviment Graffitti, who come from diametrically opposed political stables, described the comments as “classist”. The best one could say is that the comments showed a condescending attitude. It took the Prime Minister more than three days to apologise, thus opening himself to the accusation that the apology was just a tactical one to silence the mounting criticism of his comment.
The Prime Minister quite rightly described as hypocritical the attitude of those who condemn abortion but don’t really care about drowning migrants. It is legitimate to ask why he said nothing about the flip side of that statement. Is it not equally two-faced to be concerned for migrants but then support abortion?
The Church is fortunately leading by example. It is providing 400 beds in 14 different homes. Unfortunately though, the Pope’s recommendation that each parish should host a refugee family has not been followed very well.
The Archbishop, while preaching on the occasion of the feast of St Publius, has once again provided the most balanced and clear rhetoric on the subject. He said that work gets its dignity not from the type of work done but from the fact that it is done by a human being, as every human being has dignity. Therefore, the conclusion is that no job is less dignified than another.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece