Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1002137
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 JULY 2018 INTERVIEW about Malta, first and foremost, and the external border states, then I would agree. Where is the solidarity towards the external border states? But then, where is the solidarity towards refugees? Where is the solidarity towards countries of transit? People call for solidarity for themselves, but then adopt a completely different approach with everyone else... grounded in bullying, and thug- gery. That is what we are seeing: bullying, and thuggery. The 10-point plan, adopted by the EU at last week's summit, seems to place more emphasis on combating trafficking networks than saving lives at sea. Does this signal a militarisation of Europe's response to migration? Absolutely. We've been seeing a militarisation for a number of years now. The trend has been evident for some time. But I still think we didn't expect this. That it would get to a point where loss of life is somehow justified. That takes it to another level. Again, however: no one questions the right of a nation state to protect its borders. No one's screaming for open borders, or no borders. Not at all. But that we place the 'border' as priority, because of the perception of a threat... be- cause refugees are perceived as a threat, and also constructed as a threat... and then use that per- ceived threat to justify policies that result in loss of life... that's shocking. The way the discourse has almost spiralled out of con- trol... to the point where we're not even questioning it anymore... to me, that is truly shocking. Meanwhile, it appears from the same plan that Malta and Italy's closed-ports policy has been accepted at EU level... Yes. I would say that, certainly, the dominant discourse is sup- porting this approach. The recent development, in terms of stop- ping SAR operations, is hugely problematic, and as a Maltese I find it very upsetting. But Malta adopted this policy to begin with, because it is on the exter- nal border of the EU. Germany, for instance, doesn't have to deal with [the central Mediterranean route] directly; nor the UK, nor France... but all the same, other member states, barring a few lone voices, are supporting Malta and Italy's policy. So obviously, our problem is not just with the stance taken by Malta, but also by the member states in general. Another thing we are seeing is a difference between the European Commission and the individual states. At the end of the day, it is the member states that are 'steer- ing this vessel'... if you'll pardon the pun. It is they who are taking this stand... Isn't is also inevitable, however? Germany was pushing a very different policy a few years ago. There was an election in the meantime, and Merkel's power-base was considerably eroded, in part because of her immigration stance. Same could be said for Italy. This suggests that democracy, as a force, seems to push countries into adopting such extreme positions... Because refugees don't have votes... ... and the people who do, make populist demands of their governments. Could it simply be, then, that European governments are powerless to adopt any other approach? But I still hold governments re- sponsible for this as well. Let me not speak about Germany, be- cause I don't know the context well enough. Let's talk about Malta. Recently I saw a Face- book status update along the lines of: 'The winds of change are in our favour – now we have the support of government and Opposition'. It was posted by a far-right group, naturally. Per- sonally, I would be curious to know how the government and Opposition feel about this... that a far-right group can claim that they are standing for the same values as them. This did not come from nowhere: we have seen this for many years now. I'm not looking at the present government alone: we have seen a shift to the right under successive governments, caused by fear. Rather than addressing the challenges, facing the issues, and confronting the misinfor- mation head-on... they were weak. They were weak, and they shifted to the right. We saw a similar dynamic in the UK, too: so this is not just about Malta. Another change is that, while past policies tended (perhaps unintentionally) to portray asylum seekers as 'criminals' – only ever seen in handcuffs, etc. – the same strategy seems to now be directed at NGOs. As an NGO representative yourself, how do you feel about that? [Ironic laugh] Isn't that why I'm so exasperated? It's yet another case of: 'here we go again'... Earlier you mentioned 'bullying' and 'thuggery' in strong terms. Do you feel threatened? No. I don't feel that, not at all. What I feel is deep sadness... re- ally deep sadness.... because this is new. In the past, it was more frustration... but today, we are justifying loss of life. Not jus- tifying locking people up; but justifying loss of life [...] and the way the whole thing is be- ing spun, so that the persons responsible for rescue are now 'the problem'... it's incredible. I still can't believe we even got to this point. And this isn't just me speaking; I think I speak on behalf of many others... To ask a devil's advocate question: a growing number of people seem to suspect that some of these 'rescue NGOs' may be in some sort of 'collusion' with human traffickers. And they argue that NGOs should not be 'above the law'... the Lifeline captain, after all, faces real charges in court... First it was because he refused to disembark... and that accusa- tion is in itself hugely problem- atic; then it was because of the registration of the ship; then something else... Fine, if you have an issue with one particu- lar boat: why tar everyone with the same brush? And in saying that, I am definitely not saying that there was, in fact, a prob- lem with the captain of the Life- line... But that doesn't really address the broader suspicion. There have been scandals involving NGOs and charity organisations in the past: Oxfam being a recent example. Can we, hand on heart, say that those suspicions are completely unfounded? There have been scandals in the past; and I think questioning such matters is a healthy part of a democracy. But I don't think that this is what it's all about, at the end of the day. This reflects something much bigger than that. The fact that there were search and rescue operations that successfully saved thou- sands of lives, but have now become 'problematic' because they didn't stop people from arriving... that is the problem. Which goes back to my original point, that our solutions depend on how we frame the problem. If arrivals are the problem... then let's not pretend that the problem is 'deaths at sea'. Let's at least be honest. If the EU's in- tention, as recent history dem- onstrates, is to stop arrivals at all costs, then it seems to me they have found their final solu- tion: 'let them drown'.