I would expect nothing more from the country that gave us fascism and Mussolini
Of course, the usual suspects (plus some others for good measure) are going wild beneath this story on timesofmalta.com. Only a couple of sensible voices put in to point out that this is Roberto Maroni bluffing as usual. He only spoke about Egyptians, and Egyptians are always deported, including from Malta, because their position is clear-cut.
The usual suspects are asking: why doesn’t Malta follow suit?
I’ll answer, in brief: because Malta has no history of fascism, except as a minority interest by the few in the 1930s.
The TimesTuesday, 30th December 2008 – 16:10CET
Updated: Italy to start immediate deportation of immigrants
(Adds Foreign Ministry’s reaction)Italy will send back illegal immigrants who arrive on its shores starting today, after an unexpected wave of arrivals around Christmas overwhelmed its holding centres for migrants, the interior minister said. Thirty-eight Egyptians will be flown to Cairo today, the first group to be deported under the new plan announced by Italy’s right-wing government which has made cracking down on illegal immigration a top priority since coming to power in May.
Malta’s Foreign Ministry told timesofmalta.com that Malta also returns Egyptian citizens to Egypt so much so that it has already returned about 100. This was possible because Egypt accepted its people back.
Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, said Italy faced an emergency after some 2,000 immigrants arrived on the southern island of Lampedusa since Christmas. “I have arranged for the activation of a centre suitable for identification and expulsion,” Maroni told Italian radio.
A spokesman for UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, said the move raised the risk of “generalised expulsions” and appealed to the government to respect the rights of immigrants. “It is important, even in an emergency situation, to guarantee information on their rights and allow all those who express an interest in seeking asylum to be transferred as soon as possible to the appropriate centres,” Laura Boldrini told the ANSA news agency.
Italy’s long shoreline and proximity to Africa make it a popular entry point into Europe for thousands of desperate migrants who set sail in rickety, crowded boats each year, many perishing along the way. The number of illegal migrants who have arrived on Italian shores nearly doubled in the first seven months of the year, prompting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to declare a nationwide state of emergency in July.
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“I would expect nothing more from the country that gave us fascism and Mussolini”
….and Leonardo da Vinci, Marcus Aurelius, Michelangelo, Torquato Tasso, Dante, Verdi, Fra Angelico, Raffaello, Titian, Versace, Ferre, Enzo Ferrari, Enzo Piano, Loro Piana, Bernini, a gastronomic feast in every village. They also left these and much much more as well.
It’s ridiculous to compare the policies of early 20th century Italy to today.
[Daphne – Yes, that’s the tragedy – that the social culture which produced such sublime delights also produced one of the most outrageously criminal political philosophies, which helped destroy Europe and the lives of millions. I’m afraid the comparison is not ridiculous. It is precisely because Italy was predisposed to Fascism in the 1920s and 1930s that it is predisposed towards fascist behaviour towards immigrants now. Political philosophies come to the fore and take popular root when they strike a chord with a sufficient number of people (or a dominant minority who can impose on the rest). Certain societies rejected fascism outright in the 1930s while others readily embraced it. I have no doubt that fascism would have been extremely popular here in Malta, and that we were spared that fate only because we were under the colonial domination of a power which rejected fascism even at a popular level (Oswald Mosley’s people were met with stones and rotten vegetables when they marched). You can see just how popular fascism would have been here by assessing illiberal attitudes and the harsh intolerance towards all those who are different and who don’t conform.]
Most of the comments in The Times about this story are nothing but the usual crap: Jesuits, NGOs, GonziPN and those mysterious “do-gooders” are betraying Malta to the Africans. If only Josie was PM (preferably with Superintendent Valletta as President) he would fix this mess in the blink of an eye like the gutsy Italians are doing. The snag is that, as you and those couple of readers pointed out, this is nothing but hot air by a bunch of Italian Far Right buffoons. Fascist past or no Fascist past, Italy will live up to its international obligations because it is in the country’s national interest to do so. And because illegal immigration is a problem blown up out of all proportion by xenophobic and racist individuals.
Hope that NEW YEAR 2009 will be a YEAR OF HOPE and excitement to all. Hope it brings lot of happiness to all.
Hope that those who transmit so much hate in this blog will see the lights of happiness and the capabilities to accept others’ different views or opinions from theirs.
Hope too that those who spent so many years calling for vendettas will find ways and means in controlling their hate and anger.
The future is for those who have a progressive mind and who are capable of being fair and honest towards others.Those who insist in transferring the acute hate inside them should repent and the sooner the better, if they want to survive.
In a modern society the is no place for hatred and for the ‘wicked cry’ of ‘several eyes for an eye’. There is no place for those who are full of hate and wickedness inside them.Those who preach hatred should do us all a service, by controlling their negative emotions and their wicked actions.
The majority of those who participate in this blog can very well understand my honest message for the coming NEW YEAR 2009.GOD BLESS ALL.
[Daphne – REPENT! THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!]
Maroni should be made to watch ‘A Day without a Mexican’ for thirty times or until the message gets through his head, whichever is the earlier.
Is Superintendent Valletta the husband of an MP?
[Daphne – I haven’t a clue. But what difference does it make?]
I think your comments including the heading of your article are not being fair to a democratic country like Italy. All Maroni said was that those immigrants who do not qualify for refugee status are to be repatriated. These do not include under 16s. I don’t see anything Fascist about this statement. Earlier this year another spokesman for the Italian government said that Italy needs about 10,000 immigrants yearly in fields and the wine industry since Italians do not want to work in these jobs.
Yes. He is the husband of that Gozitan blonde who believes that there are two families in Malta (and Gozo) – Labour and non-Labour.
[Daphne – Oh yes: “Mur xommhu!” Caruana.]
The country that gave us Fascism and Mussolini also gave us Dante, Guareschi, Benigni, Michaelangelo, Papa Giovanni,Pavarotti, Boccaccio, Ferre’,the Renneissance,Leonardo, Botticelli, Galileo and of course Marconi.
It is a bit like condemming France for the Guiliottine that chopped off so many innocent necks in the Reign of Terror or England for deporting children charged for stealing bread to help populate Australia or Belgium for the atrocities committed in the Belgian Congo
Some “private” citizens covering pages upon pages in the English langauge newspapers re illegal immigration should be honest enough to declare their less-then-altruistic interest in the subject.