@ Ken il malti:

“I agree with you here, Malta at 314 square kilometers cannot afford the luxury to accept thousands or millions of illegal migrants regardless of their race…”

Millions? It’s this kind of talk that fans the flames of xenophobia and racism

“…even Canada or the USA will take so much per year and they have the resources to care for these people as most of them are not engineers, geophysicists or doctors no matter how much the JRS wants to hype their worth”.

Their worth. Again, its this kind of talk that fans the flames.

“I do consider the tiny and fragile and unique maltese culture worthy of existing and being swamped with other cultures and we have no say about it is no benefit”.

You should have no say about it. I am a Maltese vegetarian atheist liberal humanist. Not exactly the culture you have in mind. What if the number of people like me increase exponentially in the coming years? Would you see me as a threat to your culture? And what would you do about it?

“Shouting ‘racist’ at anyone who does not share your point of view is like the Lancomb Lady that MAD TV used to do as a skit when someone annoyed her; she would cover her ears and yell, ‘LA LA LA LA I don’t hear you !!’”

Red herring. The people that are being called racists, usually are. How otherwise would you explain the thousands of calls for freeing without trial (there is a facebook group) the Maltese soldiers charged with the murder of an immigrant while in custody, just because they are Maltese and because “no one asked the immigrant to come here”?

“The maltese psyche has always been of ‘What have to got to offer’…This was not racism”.

It wouldn’t be racism were it applied across the board, even to Maltese citizens. The last time I checked, social benefits haven’t been abolished, and I see no one complaining.

“…so right or wrong to the maltese, these places and their people have little worth and who can blame them”.

Bingo. To the Maltese these people “have no worth” and “who can blame them”? I do. My oh my. It appears you are more alien to me than most immigrants, and we’re both Maltese. Then again, we have to preserve our cultural identity, don’t we?

Trust me, I am extremely familiar with the realities out there.

The pro-rata crime rate within the immigrant community is increasing at an alarming rate, not because of their skin colour but precisely because of the ‘nothing to lose, everything to gain’ situation they find themselves into.

@ Wayne Hewitt:

You do raise some good points. However, what would you do, in the meantime, if people escaping persecution and/or certain death, enter Malta illegally? Would you let them drown or send them back because you are absolutely against illegal and uncontrolled migration?

I only ask again because you have evaded the question.

Regarding your black friend that entered Malta legally, good luck to him, and I wish him all the best. Others are not so lucky, and have to choose between risking death and “illegal immigration”. But perhaps, unlike your friend with his PhD in Geophysics, you would not welcome these other people. Why did no one ever tell me that altruism is conditional on what you can get in return?

“We have had many occasions the past year where we had street protest against racism after a presumed murder of a black person only to find out after courts concluded its investigations that racism had nothing to do”.

That is one occasion, not many. As for the conclusion, that’s the jury system for you.

We still don’t know if this is a racially charged murder. We have had many occasions the past year where we had street protest against racism after a presumed murder of a black person only to find out after courts concluded its investigations that racism had nothing to do.

I believe such conclusions instigate racism on the minority side.

that should read: ..these two political “parties”… in the third paragraph.

“Flagging the racist flag every time someone talks about illegal immigration is what is actually adding to the frustration and dissent on this subject.”

I agree with you here, Malta at 314 square kilometers cannot afford the luxury to accept thousands or millions of illegal migrants regardless of their race, even Canada or the USA will take so much per year and they have the resources to care for these people as most of them are not engineers, geophysicists or doctors no matter how much the JRS wants to hype their worth.

This is a very important matter, more so than nearly anything else these two political consider important.

I do consider the tiny and fragile and unique maltese culture worthy of existing and being swamped with other cultures and we have no say about it is no benefit.

Shouting “racist” at anyone who does not share your point of view is like the Lancomb Lady that MAD TV used to do as a skit when someone annoyed her; she would cover her ears and yell, “LA LA LA LA I don’t hear you !!”

The maltese psyche has always been of “What have to got to offer” be it the Knights of Malta or British Imperialism or the EU as these can yield some goodies sooner or later but anything south of our island is held with disdain even a Gaddafi bearing gifts.

This was not racism, it was practicality as even our 19th/ early 20th century maltese immigrant brothers had to leave North Africa because of cultural and religious persecution that was always present but it escalated to a boil once these nations got their independence, so right or wrong to the maltese, these places and their people have little worth and who can blame them.

There are some prize comments beneath.

When their party implies the country belongs to others and that government alone can give them a sense of belonging, being a xenophobe and xenophile is one and the same.

Joseph happens to be a curious phenomenon, uneasy with British culture, adopting the worst facets of Italian contemporary culture, with his ragazze immagine straight out of Canale 5, barely hidden menefreghismo, vulgar flashy labels and admiration for the macho cliche’ who has taken to pink polo shirts to expose his softer side.

He thinks he’s an Alfista, problem is, at thirty something, he drives the wrong model, in the wrong colour. It means he couldn’t commit himself. Getting a driver is even worse.

1. Put pressure on the new Libya to join the Geneva Convention, effectively making Libya internationally responsible for the well being of these immigrants.

2. In the absence of (1) or together with (1), agree with Libya on joint Italian – Maltese – Libyan patrol so that boats are intercepted in Libyan waters, and legally returned to Libyan shores from where they would have left.

Both perfectly legal and within Geneva Convention/Dublin II Treaty obligations.

I am not against legal and controlled migration but I am absolutely against illegal and uncontrolled migration.

I have a black friend of mine who has a PhD in Geophysics and entered Malta legally and works/lives here. Is he welcome in Malta? Of course.

Whoever puts skin as a reason on both sides of the argument is simply equal in fomenting irrational hate.