Joseph Muscat is the typical, thick-skinned, literal Maltese man. He simply cannot understand subtle hints in a conversation.

The point being made is the opposite of what you interpreted, Daphne: that Lebanon has taken in the equivalent of one fifth of their population in refugees while Malta just has a tiny few even by comparison.

[Daphne – I know that. MY point is that one should never use an intrinsically fallacious argument to prove one’s point.]

[Daphne – I can’t stand that argument. It’s one of those ridiculous ‘on paper and all things being equal’ theories that make little sense in real life and practice. The reality is that dealing with the unexpected arrival of 4,000 destitute people is a whole lot easier to organise than dealing with the unexpected arrival of 750,000 of them, whatever the size of the country or population, more so when the 750,000 come in a sudden influx. You need massive emergency mechanisms to cope with that kind of thing, and the size of the country or population have little or nothing to do with it, as you will see from Syria, which can’t cope despite the presence and input of the world’s major aid organisations.]

You are right, but I don’t think our dear PM did realize what message Ban Ki-Moon conveyed him in his eagerness to take photos with world leaders and publish them here through the DOI.

Instead we go around whimpering like a spoilt child.

Don’t you just love the subtle way Ban Ki-Moon put Muscat in his place with his reference to Syria? Read it here:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130925/local/pm-discusses-irregular-migration.487704