What horror
Published:
July 24, 2014 at 4:52pm
Last Friday’s ‘boat people’ disaster off Malta turns out to have been worse than imagined. Survivors say that hundreds, not tens, of people drowned – many of them while still packed like sardines into the lower deck – and that around 60 people were stabbed by the ferrymen and their corpses thrown overboard.
The wonder is that any make it to the other side at all, given that the ferrymen are paid beforehand.
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The big EU honchos must get off on this type of news, as they don’t want to put a stop to this, when they certainly can.
What a load of rubbish: do you even know what you’re talking about? What exactly do you propose?
No load of rubbish, just common sense.
Establish safe havens in Africa and the Middle East and return every would be illegal migrant back there.
Make it not worth their while to take a perilous sea voyage and these human trafficker will go out of business.
Not all of huge and bountiful 11,608,000 square miles of Africa is a war zone you know.
Have a legal emigration centres set-up there and nations that want immigrants can vet them there and fly them over safely to their host nations.
ken il malti, do you know what kind of diplomatic nightmare you are proposing? Can you imagine the German government coming to Malta, buys a sizeable piece of land, and informs us that as of today that piece of land will be used to house irregular immigrants? How do you think the Maltese will react?
ZZ, the EU or UN won’t not buying a piece of land only renting it, and for a good price many nations would take the offer.
Spain’s own Ceuta and or Melilla can be used for instance, and Spain is an EU member.
How do you propose the “big EU honchos” do that in practical terms?
Its not the big EU honchos, its our current government who has, in a very public way, been reluctant to help these people in desperate situations.
Tragic stuff, but there’s only Northern European countries to blame, headed by Commissioner Malmstrom.
No action on the political level is taking place, so prepare yourselves for more horror next week or the one after for many times over. It has happened, is happening and will continue to happen. The boats will keep on coming. Southern Europe is just picking up the survivors from the seas.
This “blaming Northern countries” is rather tiresome. What exactly do “we Southern countries” do to show solidarity to the problems faced in the North? Or is it just that they’re richer so they’re obliged to help us out? Typical bumming mentality. It’s our problem primarily so we should look for sustainable solutions. And no, push-backs are not a sustainable solution.
Enlighten us, Arnold. But be realistic. What are your sustainable solutions?
There are no solutions. Not unless you’re prepared to sink boats and kill people. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can get back to building a semblance of civilisation.
@Arnold Layne
You said it! It is “our problem primarily”
Yes it is our problem and we should be allowed to deal with it our own way without the interference of the Northern EU countries and the likes of Malmstrom,
They tell us to leave the borders open, to rescue them and to keep them. They think that throwing money our way is showing solidarity. IT IS NOT!
If they want to dictate, they should put in their share with helping out in the search and rescue operations. They must agree that the immigrants once rescued are distributed evenly across the EU states.
If they are not prepared to do that then they should shut their mouths and let us deal with the problem our own way.
In the end though, if we want to stop or at least cut down on these tragedies, push backs is the only way. There is nothing else anyone can do or say that will stop this.
@ Chris M
Malta does not exist in a vacuum. There is no such thing as doing things our way. Malta is part of an international system. Without that, it’s just a bleached rock in the middle of the sea.
I’ve long thought the defining characteristic of the Maltese is their inherent savagery. You make a marvellous spokesperson for the more primitive element.
@ Chris M
Malta’s SAR area brings in revenue. Your lot never say anything about giving that up.
@Not Sandy:P
“Malta’s SAR area brings in revenue. Your lot never say anything about giving that up.”
I have nothing against giving it up. Money is not everything.
Are you willing to give up your rights, along with Malta’s SAR revenue?
That’s what you’re advocating when you say we should sink migrant boats or let people drown. There is no other way of preventing boats arriving in Europe.
Unless Europe closes the door to all immigrants arriving by boat from North Africa this will keep happening and there is nothing in the world that anyone can do to stop it.
It might sound harsh but it is the truth. Closing the door won’t stop all these tragic events from occurring but it will certainly reduce them by a large margin.
As things stand, people are willing to pay criminal human traffickers and risk their lives in the hope and belief that they will be rescued and taken into Europe.
Ironically, organised pushbacks, unethical as they might be, would discourage such voyages, in turn saving the lives of thousands.
Where would we have been if Australia, Canada, the UK and the US closed their doors to tens of thousands of Maltese? As if it’s that simple.
The migration of Maltese in the early and mid 20th century were mainly legal and organised. The huge countries were expanding their labour force and welcomed migrants. Sadly, were shown a completely different picture before they decided to take the leap.
What we have in the Med today, is a completely different story. Our sea has become a cemetery.
We did not go to these places en-masse in a never ending illegal manner.
We had to have interviews with immigration officials of the host nations that wanted us, in Valletta.
Plus with complete medical checks including chest X-rays and police records checked and schooling and trades certificates verified and even then there was no guarantee that you and your family will be accepted.
Once we got to our new homeland, we were on our own, no government handout or free housing, plus in the 1950s and 60s there was no human rights laws to protect us, so we it was open season for discrimination and unwarranted physical violence on our persons because we were Maltese or wops or wogs or dagos or guineas as they called us. I tell you it was no picnic, as I was there and I don’t forget.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, as the saying goes and I have succeed beyond their dreams or hatred or spite in the new land despite the obstacles.
@Arnold Layne
The Maltese traveled to Australia, Canada, the UK and the US legally and safely. They had all their documentation in order, health checks and background checks prior.
In a nutshell, the Maltese did not risk their lives to get to these places and they certainly did not impose themselves on these countries.
Don’t try and compare two completely different things.
At least we were identified, interviewed and medically vetted when we went to Australia and we went there when permitted to, not just turned up by boat. Sorry, but your argument does not hold water. You’re comparing oranges with apples.
Aside from the illegality, inhumanity and impracticality of a pushback policy or what Chris M calls closing the door, it is disingenuous to say locking immigrants out will save lives. It will destroy them, only faster and more efficiently.
The funadamental reason for turning immigrants away is to live a delusional existence where you believe it is possible to deny others their rights without giving up your own.
@Not Sandy:P
Closing the door on them will mean that the Mediterranean will end up less the immigrant graveyard that it is. Nobody can deny that fact.
Immigrants take the risk to come to Europe because they know that by doing so they will be entitled to housing, social benefits, free education etc… etc..
There are plenty of countries in Africa and not all of them are at civil war or known for human rights abuses. Granted, given the choice I would choose Europe over any African country but then again i’d also rather choose a Porsche over a Skoda or a 5 Star resort over a 3 star one.
Your anti-black prejudice could hardly be more transparent.
1. Not all immigrants are from sub-saharan Africa.
2. Malta is just one of many places in the EU that receive immigrants.
3. The central Mediterranean route into the EU is not the only one.
4. Your metaphor is fatuous. Malta is neither a Porsche nor a 5-star resort.
5. Saving lives at sea is a long-standing primary obligation that has nothing to do with human rights. Your personal feelings do not have a bearing on that fundamental fact.
6. Closing the door is a euphemism for sinking boats and their passengers, aka drowning people deliberately. That is Norman Lowell’s policy, which is why you voted for him and his brainless sidekick.
@Not Sandy:P
1: I never mentioned sub-saharan Africa. But since you mention it, most immigrants are from there.
2: Malta is the smallest EU countries which receives the most immigrants per capita.
3: Not it is not, but it is the one that concerns us (in Malta) the most.
4: No Malta is not compared to a Porsche or 5 star resort, but i’d still prefer it to living in an African country.
5: You are right about saving lives being a priority. But these people are choosing to put their lives in danger and the UNHCR, NGO’s and people like yourself are encouraging them.
6: Closing the door would send them a message that it is not worth putting their lives at even a small risk just to be turned back once they arrive.
Not Sandy:P, nobody is talking about drowning them or letting them die or not rescuing them. But by bringing them in we are only encouraging more and more of these dangerous voyages and more deaths whilst the people who organize such trips get richer whilst laughing at us.
Your fixation on black immigrants from subsaharan Africa is self-evident. You don’t disguise yourself or your prejudice very well.
Equally, your fixation on Malta just because you live here doesn’t make it the centre of the universe or even of the EU.
Malta is not the smallest EU country and the per capita figure is a fluke. The numbers who stay are what you should be looking at, not that it should make any difference to whether rights are respected.
Your preference for living in Malta rather than an African state is irrelevant. This isn’t about you. It never was, no matter what you think.
How does stating facts on a blog in Malta amount to encouraging migration? And how is it on a par with international organisations? You need to refine your thinking. It hasn’t evolved since you left the school playground – if you ever did, that is.
Laughing at us? No, this is definitely not at all about you, even though you think it is.
Shed your self-delusion. Closing the door means only one thing: sinking migrant boats and letting the migrants drown.
http://tracks.unhcr.org/2014/07/haunted-by-a-sinking-ship/
Works in Australia. Why not here? ;)
Would you be the Tony Gee who voted for Norman Lowell?
There really is no need to prove that racism is rooted in stupidity and ignorance and that so many Australian immigrants are at home among sub-literate crooks.
Australia’s policy doesn’t work.
The inhumanity of not pushing illegal immigrants back when it first started.
Migration is as old as humanity. You wouldn’t have been here if it weren’t.
I think a good sustainable solution would be, invade these countries, restore order and give them back their country slowly. Of course this takes time and open to abuse from the conqueror. But really, I can’t think of a better way to stop all the wars and terrorism going on in some African countries.
Those wars are a leftover from colonial times so, no, colonialism isn’t a solution.
Most of these migrants were killed by other foreign migrants. Nevertheless we hear much propaganda to sympathise with foreign migrants and accept them with open arms.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/world/41550/five_arrested_for_murder_of_over_100_migrants_at_sea