Category: Immigration

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Immigration Values

The push-back effect

As the dust settles on the 24 hours push-back saga we can begin to draw a few conclusions as to how the different participants fared. Away from the noise and static of the instinctive reactions there might be an opportunity to examine whether or not the issue of “immigration” has seen any development. First of all there is no way we could ever conceive of a policy on immigration that is apolitical. That is a load of rubbish. A policy on immigration is by its very nature political. Parties are not there to simply echo popular demands but they should be clearly stating their position on the matter and offering their ideas.

In fact what we really do not need is the “partisan” approach where policy is either pulled out of the pocket in a knee-jerk reaction or simply phrased in such a manner as to serve short-term government or opposition goals without any eye for a holistic policy that clearly enunciates Malta’s position vis-a-vis the complex problem of migration. Let us see how the participants fared then:

The Sabre-Rattling Prime Minister (or The Blind Man’s Bluff)

Joseph Muscat has a problem. He is now being judged by what he does and not simply by what he promised to do. There’s a huge difference between Jane Marshall saying she believes in Joseph because he does what he promised (and he still had done nothing yet) and what every citizen is able to see for his own eyes now. Muscat is finding it hard to understand that while promises only have consequences in the mind of whoever wants to believe them, real actions have consequences in the real world and these consequences cannot be as controlled or doped as a propaganda message.

Does Joseph genuinely believe that he could pull off such a stunt as he did yesterday? Is it possible that his was an elaborate bluff full knowing that in the end the planes would leave for nowhere? Even if we did consider it to be such an elaborate bluff it falls apart immediately as was said so well elsewhere. The reason is because his bluff involves stoking the flames of intolerance and racism. Joseph created the expectancy of a full-fledged push-back programme turning the insipid Times commentator’s dream into reality – a ro/ro service of planes sending the despicable pest back where they came from. Taghna Lkoll had a new corollary. It was go back to your country.

And who was the bluff supposed to impress? Ah yes. Joseph’s second protracted gaffe. He insists on dealing with Europe as though it is somebody else. He insists on reinforcing the idea of Europe and Brussels as the enemy. Many a bleating donkey will repeat this notion before sundown. There might be an opening here for insisting on more burden sharing but Joseph simply ploughs his way into any hope of EU solidarity and reintroduces the Mintoffian roughness and lack of diplomacy. Sure he got plaudits (“Leader bil-bajd”) but is it from the right crowd?

The third gaffe from the supposed sabre-rattler is the appalling idea of showing publicly that our government is prepared to flaunt international law and join the ranks of international tantrum throwers like some latter-day Ahmadinejad. Only a while back somebody was calling Joseph Muscat a mature PM – we already struggled to come to terms with that before this charade. Now that it is over we see nothing more than a man incapable of understanding his role and the importance of international law.

Finally Labour’s treating of immigrants as pawns in this sabre-rattling saga was the cherry on the cake insofar as proof of Labour’s absolute loss when it comes to the real treatment of real human rights. The fallacy of all things progressive from gay rights to emancipation of different religions and more was never more evident than with Labour’s “selection” of which migrants to send back. In the same week when our Foreign Office had issued a travel warning for Maltese in Benghazi (Libya) we had a nazi-style selection progress to send the strongest among the lot (we care about women and children) to face the troubles. Weep if you remember how to.

Simon and the Moral Issue

The nationalist party had a hard time getting everyone to forget the ugly baggage it has stored in Dar Centrali when it comes to immigration policy. Over the years in government we cannot really say that the PN had provided some sort of moral standards when it came to dealing with immigrants. It’s all too well for ex-PM Gonzi and co. to stand up in parliament and insist that morality should come before the law (which we agree 100%) when not too long ago a nationalist government had no qualms in using a boat-load of immigrants as a negotiating pawn with that sans-pareil of democracy from the Italian government – Mr Frattini.

It would always have been hard for the nationalists to appear genuinely concerned on the matter what with all their footshuffling on all things immigrant when they were in the driving seat. Conditions at the immigrant quarters, backing of Italian push-back policies and that ill-fated planeload of Eritreans would still return to haunt the sons of the Ugandan exiles. Only three years ago MEP Simon Busuttil was comfortable writing the following words in an article entitled “Why the hypocrisy must stop” (Times 28.07.2010):

“It is all too easy to condemn and to play the moral card. Bet there is a hint of hypocrisy in those who do so at the international level. For they have no reply when we ask them who is going to shoulder the responsibility”.

Which is where the PN still needs to grow up. As I said I am all for a revamped Nationalist position on immigration. Ideally this would involve a long term approach putting their policy in black and white. I am sure there would  be place for defining moral priorities and help the PN avoid a pick’n’mix approach depending on the latest crisis. As things stand though it is hard to be convinced by a leader who only in 2011 (March 25th) was still prepared to argue in legal terms over and above issues of morality (See “Libyan crisis caused migration policy rethink – Times of Malta). Which is not to say there is not place for hope.

What the PN needs to avoid is gimmicks such as the “65 lawyer” lawsuit. Call a spade a spade. Say that 65 lawyers from within the PN set-up signed a document that would allow the party to bask in the limelight. If it had to be a real lawyer’s lawsuit then why not open it to the whole of our professional brotherhood? Better still why not make sure that you actually have locus standi to see the thing through – as did the very commendable Michael Camilleri in his lawsuit for and on behalf of a number of NGO’s? There was something that smacked of the incredibly opportunistic in this lawsuit business (the PN’s not Michael’s of course). It was the PN trying to do a PL (remember the class action stunts?). A clumsy attempt at flashy PR. Failed.

The Bigot among us

Yes the issue has also shown that there are many, many among us who would have no qualms putting a couple of hundred innocent souls on a plane and send them to their doom. Just pop into facebook or the comment boards and you will see how this is not a case of the factitious loony few. It was not just Normal Lowell popping up his racist head to applaud Joseph Muscat. It was a slew of comments all over the place. It was a train of misguided thoughts and ill-informed criticism. At least Muscat could rest assured that there is more than a modicum of support for his theatrics.

The irony is that those who claim to be acting in the interest of the nation seem to be oblivious of the fact that a push-back policy risks making Malta a pariah in the international community. Their idea of making the country proud (and yes, of standing up to be counted) is one that flaunts international rules, defies moral duty and packages human beings in a lead box with wings before sending them out to the slaughter. Din l-art helwa my arse.

Utopia

Back in the days of the Crimean War Malta was a floating hospital receiving the wounded and injured from the battleground. The country can once again develop its capabilities as a safe harbour, promoter of Universal Rights and liberties, protector of the weak and beacon of light in an indifferent Europe. It is not just barracks for the migrants that could be built but centres for dissemination of information and education, events that focus on the plight of brother human beings across the world. All this and more would allow Malta to become a leader among nations in a Union that is shuffling its feet.

Being at the forefront of this human tragedy is not a danger to flee from but an opportunity to be grasped. A sense of duty is required. A moral fibre and a will to toil with sweat. These are real sacrifices that would not only make a country proud but would make us all better humans. Such a programme would require parties that think above partisan vote-winning interest. It would require genuine commitment and real men (and women) not rhetoric sabre-rattler or opportunistic bandwagon riders.

The Mediterranean sea is our history and our future. We cannot choose to only accept the Saints that are spat onto our island in some shipwreck two millenia ago. Destiny has put our islands at the crossroads of great events. We are either going to choose the path to be men and accept this challenge or tread the paths of many cowards before us who easily bully the weak and cower before the strong.

What will it be? It’s time to stop flogging the sea.

THEN Xerxes made vast provision for his invasion-for the building of a bridge over the Hellespont, and the cutting of a canal through the peninsula of Athos, where the fleet of Mardonius had been shattered. And from all parts of his huge empire he mustered his hosts first in Cappadocia, and marched thence by way of Sardis to the Hellespont. And because, when the bridge was a-building, a great storm wrecked it, he bade flog the naughty waves of the sea. Then, the bridge being finished, he passed over with his host, which took seven days to accomplish.

 

Categories
Immigration

If that plane takes off

If the information from “informed sources” is confirmed then two planes will take off from Luqa airport (at midnight and four a.m.) in order to return a number of the migrants who had reached our shores in desperation. It is really immaterial whether the obscene policy dubbed “push-back” is legal or illegal by whatever rule you choose to follow. True, there is a judgement of the European Court of Human Rights. True, by EU law the action is not only repugnant but illegal. All that should not count though, for first and foremost the deed that will be committed in the stealth of the night is really a measure of man – a measure of men on this island.

The moment the AirMalta flight’s wheels will lift off from the hallowed ground of this land of milk and honey will be the moment this country has reached if not its darkest hour then one of its darkest. Under the stealth of dark night the world’s ugliest hours have tolled  – from biblical massacres (the Passover, Herod’s cull of the innocents) to Shakespearean tragedy (Come, thick night, And pall thee in dunnest smoke of hell) to the sickly moments of Nazi Kristallnacht  – the history of humanity is replete with manifestations of the dark side of man. The cloaked darkness will not and should not suffice to hide the perpetrators of this latest inhuman act from shame. Yes, shame. Because the moment the first of those planes takes off is the moment we can definitely confirm that we have been divested of a large part of our humanity and dignity.

There is no darkness but ignorance, the poet tells us. It is the fruit of ignorance that is being borne on this very dark and heavy night in those planes of lead carrying the disillusioned dreams back to the darkness whence they came. It is the ignorant bleating of the masses that is being pleased, the ignorant braying of hundreds of mules that are being appeased by the leaders of none. It takes no courage to take a group of helpless men, women and children and place them on a vehicle of transport to be sent back to whatever sad or ill fate awaits them. It does not make you a non-pushover. It makes you a coward, a coward of the worst kind for whom no circle of damnation would suffice.

Is this push-back policy the fruit of misplaced oratory? Is it some misguided ploy to distract from the myriad errors being committed by a government that has proven to be a false hope? Worse still if it is. For I’d hate to bear the responsibility of playing with people’s lives simply as a diversionary tactic and distraction. Can our supposed leaders even for one moment believe that this kind of chest-pounding with the poor and the depraved win them any accolades other than among the very sheep and donkeys who have pushed them to this madness? Even if the herds amounted to 90% of the population this is the moment in which real leaders stand up to be counted. They stand up armed with values, with belief and with a strong vision of humanity that transcends the immediate and the material. They do not “explore all options” but bear the brunt of the difficulty and stand out as beacons that shame the neighbouring countries who refuse to budge in solidarity.

We’ll have none of that though. A pen pusher somewhere in Castille has set the wheels in motion. Our very own one-way trains of doom will take flight tonight. Their destination may not be Birkenau, Treblinka or Auschwitz but what’s in a name? On our heads will rest the responsibility of every life that could be lost.

If that plane takes off at midnight tonight we can definitely say that we will be taking one more step backward to mediocrity, spinelessness and relativism.

Tonight, before you tuck your children to sleep think of the souls that have been sent away into the darkness. There are some people who would have you believe that it is being done for your safety and for our nation’s glory.

Not in my name.

 

NOTICE FROM THE MALTA HUMANIST ASSOCIATION:

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. Government is reportedly about to send 102 Somali asylum seekers back to Libya, in what would effectively be a repeat of a policy enacted by Italy in 2010, and declared illegal by the European Court of Human rights in 2012.
The initiative would also be a direct violation of Protocol 4, Article 4 of the convention of human rights – to which Malta is signatory, and which very unambiguously prohibits mass deportation of foreigners.
Hailing from Somalia, all 102 of these asylum seekers are within their legal rights to seek asylum, and Malta is legally bound by various treaties to process their application. Yet government seems to be implying that it intends to disregard its own legal obligations in this sense, and the implications are that governmet considers itself above the law.
A protest has been planned for this evening (8pm) and will be attended by NGOs involved in asylum. The MHA is supporting this initiative, as it is very concerned by the latest developments on at least three counts:
1), the proposed action constitutes a clear violation of human rights, and as such runs counter to the single most relevant article of international law concernign human rights (which, as humanists, we feel duty-bound to uphold)
2) regardless of legality, the proposed plan is a direct affront to the basic dignity to which all humans are entitled, and exposes these people to very serious risk of violent reprisals (possibly including torture and execution) on their reptriation;
3) It is the MHA’s view that government’s approach to this phenomenon should not be piecemeal, and shoud instead concentrate on adopting a national immigration plan that goes beyond dealing with crises as they arise… in other words, the opposite of what it is doing in this case.

Categories
Immigration Jasmine

The Devil You Know

Joseph Muscat must be chewing his liver by now. The Libyan Crisis has propelled our Prime Minister back up in the popularity stakes thanks to the wonderful transformation of our island into the Florence Nightingale of the Mediterranean. After the early hesitant pussy-footing Prime Minister Gonzi took a stand in line with the UN, the EU and the major policy-makers of the West. The “neutrality” issue was only bandied about by remnants of the “That 70’s Show” that still tend to appear as uninvited warts in our political constellation.

Thankfully, Muscat’s labour distanced itself from the likes of Reno Calleja but it was already too late. Muscat had dilly-dallied and hedged his bets too far. He had once again proven himself to be a massive FAIL in the statesman department. All the better for Lawrence and his troops who could draw cheques on the well thought international reputation bequeathed by his nationalist predecessors. There is no doubt that on an international level most voters with a thinking head on their necks would prefer the consistency and statesmanship of Lawrence Gonzi any day.

Behind the Scenes

It’s not so airy fairy behind the scenes though is it? We may be passing through a moment when Facebook is full of Maltese of all colours and creeds declaiming their pride to be Maltese and joy to see their nation at the service of humanity and humanitarian activity. As shiploads and planeloads of escapees from Libya entered our air and sea ports we clapped enthusiastically and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done.

David Cameron stopped short of granting a new George Cross to the island (the reference to the first period of assistance by the Maltese was not so cryptic was it?) and US viewers got their umpteenth chance to discover that Malta was an “independent tiny island” in the Mediterranean (so we also got the publicity Joseph had crassly craved for).

But we kept smelling something fishy. For behind the statesmanlike dealing with the crisis there was an incredible volte-face at both a political and popular level. Just think of it. We were watching a boatload of 2,000 workers who had lost their job due to the events in a troubled nation. Few, if anybody, were calling for them to “Go Back to Their Country”. We were suddenly the most hospitable of nations – an oasis of opportunity.

What difference is there, I ask, between a boatload of Eritreans displaced by Civil War and a boatload of Chinese displaced by Civil War? The Chinese are going home I hear you say? Oh so that is what it takes does it? So what you  mean is that so long as we can wash our hands from the responsibility of safeguarding the human life ourselves then we are quite happy to don the nurse’s hat and play the hero. Is that it?

Libya no More

Until a few months ago we have seen boatloads of Sudanese, Eritreans and Somalis heading to our country. All we could think of was “Go Away”. When we panicked and when we could not draw the attention of the international community to our plight (hell, despite all efforts the Swedish foreign minister still finds claims of immigration exodus “an exaggeration”) we turned to those who offered an alternative: Muammar Gaddafi’s Iron Fist (with the connivance of Signor Maroni and the EU Commission).

We were happy to turn the boats back to Libya and then like the proverbial monkeys closed our eyes, ears and mouth as to the consequences. They were another people’s problem. So yes. Until a few months ago we bargained with Colonel Gaddafi of the “pills in Nescafe and Al Qaeda in Benghazi”. We asked the man who paid mercenaries to shoot on his own people, his own blood, his own nation to help us solve the illegal immigrant problem.

We trusted a mad man to provide us with a humanitarian solution. He obliged. Later he would come up with the 5 billion euro blackmail as the lives of thousands of persons became subject to a barter with a Europe that was too busy to care.

Still patting yourself on the back?

 


From OpenDemocracy.org:

EU migration control: made by Gaddafi?

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Categories
Immigration

Forget Divorce. Think Immigration.

We should resign ourselves to the fact that this boxing bout regarding divorce is a lost battle. A lost battle in the sense that for those of us who think that divorce is a matter to be legislated in parliament away from the “will of the majority” discourse in the name of a sane society this current round has nothing left to offer. We can wait, as many have begun to augur, for the next election – hoping that one or more parties puts divorce on its manifesto and bears the responsibility of doing what is expected of a party in politics.

Meanwhile a big red warning light has just lit up to the west of Malta. The calmer seas coupled with Tunisia’s governmental turmoil have now meant that getting onto one of the immigrant boats direction Europe has become as easy as catching a bus – if you have the right amount of dinars. The problem is that given the laxity of controls and the sudden higher availability of the service suppliers (no need to go underground, no need to hide, just own a boat and point it to Sicily) the price of a trip will perforce go down – and that means more desperate immigrants. Worse still if pre-revolution conditions were catastrophic what about now? What about those who have no time to wait to see if the change will really work?

It’s time for Malta to wake up and smell the coffee. Italy is already drowning under the impact of the new waves. Only last night 977 immigrants disembarked in Lampedusa. The numbers are expected to explode. Prevention and foresight is better than cure. Tonio Borg and the rest of the team must get onto the Italian business pronto and double the efforts of coordinating an EU plan and reaction to the problem. Above all someone should sit the young opportunistic upstart at Dar it-Trasparenza and brief him on the seriousness of the problem before he decides to either find a way to blame the government for this new wave or worse still, to offer to create some new Dejma or Dirghaajn il-Maltin using the immigrant travellers as unsuspecting slave labour. With the kind of advisors he has now I wouldn’t be surprised.