I did not attend a recent seminar on irregular immigrants and the Maltese labour market, but having read about it, I wonder what it was meant to achieve.
The objective was meant to steer the debate away from emotional reactions and to lay the groundwork for a research project analysing the integration of irregular migrants and their impact on the labour market.
Considering that nobody had any clue as to how many immigrants are working illegally, their impact on the labour market is going to be a tough one to establish.
Joe Farrugia, the director general of the Malta Employers’ Association, was reported as saying that there were numerous positive stories of immigrants who had managed to integrate in the labour market.
It would be interesting to know how many the “numerous” entail and what kind of jobs they are employed at. A valid work permit has been issued to 879 immigrants, but less than half of them have regular employment. Permit holders include 82 refugees, 615 immigrants who were granted temporary human protection status, and 182 asylum seekers.
Maybe the MEA could come up with a few positive stories on how these numerous employers are handling the situation. I am sure this would act as an incentive to other employers who have cold feet about employing immigrants.
Is the MEA aware of whom the employers who are manipulating and exploiting the current situation to their advantage are? Or does the MEA only know of the good employers?
I don’t believe that one can steer away from emotional reactions. Tackling the emotional aspect is integral to finding a solution. Ignore it and you get extreme reactions like the Italian mayor losing it and calling for SS-style barbarity to deal with the problem. If some immigrants behave badly it could be because they are desperate people who face isolation and hatred. But there are also some individuals, like in every society, who are selfish and ignorant. But one cannot brand a race and get all Fascistic because of the failings of a few.
The subject of employment alone is highly charged, add to that the fear of the unknown, the ensuing prejudice and the lack of direction to tackle the problem, not only here I might add, and you have a bubbling cauldron on the brink of spilling over.
It is no surprise that immigrants are offered the jobs the locals reject. The researchers will no doubt visit documentation on the UK in the Fifties and make comparisons not only with the fact that the African immigrants were offered the jobs no one wanted, but also the racism that the influx produced. Notwithstanding the racism, the British public transport system and the health service would have foundered without the Jamaicans who immigrated to the UK.
Considering the behaviour of some of our bus drivers and nurses, we would probably benefit from a culture which produces more compassionate and less aggressive employees dealing with the public.
The thing with islanders is that they do not take kindly to outsiders; they tolerate the ones whose culture and colour do not stand out so much a bit more, but the suspicion and exclusiveness is always there. Look at the Gozitans, they barely tolerate the Maltese and vice versa.
The dichotomy is that people complain about us having to house, feed and clothe the immigrants, but we don’t want them to work, we even resent them doing the jobs we reject, because that might signify permanence and that is what is seen as the real threat.
Interestingly, the Church does not see our religion threatened by the immigrants and the Jesuits and Dar L-Immigrant have unstintingly championed their cause. Despite this, public antipathy to the illegal immigrants grows.
It is significant that a total of 2,253 applications from irregular immigrants for a work permit were rejected between January 2002 and last October. It would have been interesting to know the rejection criteria.
The problem is complex and just giving immigrants jobs is a temporary solution. Long term, we need to know whether we are ever going to be able to accept to live alongside people who are very different to us in many ways besides the colour of their skin.
As Catholics we have been brought up to admire missionaries and to give generously to African people in distress, especially children. But bring the unfortunates to your doorstep and the philanthropy soon vanishes to be replaced by misanthropy.

Too many guns
It was uncanny that in the same week following my appeal (Nov 25) to the courts to take the ownership of guns, especially the unlicensed, more seriously (a local man, a relapser, was fined a mere Lm100 when he was found guilty of being in possession of a revolver and ammunition without a police licence), we had a stunning armed robbery and a murder in broad daylight the following Sunday.
I opined that guns are lethal weapons and although we do not have many cases of shootings here, one death or serious injury should be more than enough to ensure that at least the people with unlicensed firearms are made to pay substantial fines. Otherwise there is no deterrent to future unlicensed gun ownership.
My comment that we do not have many cases of shootings was rather shattered last week when I read about the man who was killed in cold blood in front of his children and partner. The assailant was the latter’s former husband.
At least the amazing heist at the HSBC branch in Balzan was carried out without a shot being fired. But it would not have been successful without the threat of firearms. The job was highly professional and brought home the fact that more a more sophisticated financial sector also attracts more sophisticated criminals.
It also highlighted the need for our police force to catch up with today’s professional criminals’ methods. I am sure that HSBC officials would have wanted to know how a van was just left in the middle of Main Street, some 200 metres away from the bank, blocking access to traffic coming from Birkirkara.
As I understand it a police station was very close. Didn’t the bank have an alarm system for such an eventuality? The bank is not isolated; it is in the heart of a busy intersection, even though the heist was carried out with stopwatch precision in less than five minutes, did no one in the vicinity notice the commotion?
Robbers made off with almost €1.1 million and close to Lm70, 000 in cash from the branch on 30 November.
At approximately the same time a much less ambitious and unsuccessful robber let off his frustration and fired his ammunition inside a shop, injuring no one, when the intrepid owner of a pet shop in San Gwann refused to hand over any money despite having a shotgun waved at her.
There was another armed hold-up in Mosta the following Tuesday night, carried out by three armed and hooded people. This robbery was successful and no shots were fired.
In another armed hold-up, this time in a Valletta pedestrianised street of jewellery shops, at a time when I imagine a crowd of shoppers were around (6.30pm), the robber got away with a tray full of diamonds on foot. No one was injured.
On the same evening at 9.30pm, an amusement outlet was raided by two armed and hooded men, which looked like a copycat crime, or possibly members of the same gang of the Mosta robbery.
On Friday at noon three hooded, armed men (possibly the same who raided the Mosta establishment) held-up a van and stole a considerable amount of tobacco and cigarettes in Swieqi.
An incredible amount of armed robberies in a short spate of time, all but one successful. So far the robbers appear to be cautious with their firearms and are only using them to intimidate, but all it takes is for one of them to panic for one of these robberies to end in tragedy.
Let us hope that the last few weeks’ events will enlighten all those who do not appreciate the disorder and danger firearms can cause.

A little late
It was interesting to see that MP Franco Galea has raised the issue of the desperate state at White Rocks. The prime dump has been around for a while. It is a pity he did not raise it over a year ago when the HSBC Environment Fund ran a mini documentary on the area on PBS, which was covered in the press.
Maybe PBS can re run that clip, or Mr Galea can get hold of it and show it to his colleagues.

pamelapacehansen@gmail.com