Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1259447
PHOTO BY JAMES BIANCHI 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2020 INTERVIEW Last Monday's anti-racism pro- test unfolded against the back- drop of global 'Black Lives Mat- ter' movement, sparked by the murder of George Floyd in the United States. Do you see par- allels between the situation in Malta, and the USA? Yes, I do… even though, obvi- ously, there are also differences. In the USA, the problem of rac- ism runs much deeper. I've lived there, and I understand that the United States is a country that was actually built on racism, to a certain extent. So there is more violence against ethnic minori- ties; as well as more State-con- doning of that violence. This is partly the effect of hav- ing such an enormously wealthy, over-funded military… with the result that the military's excess weaponry goes directly to the po- lice. When you have a militarised police force, the tendency to bul- ly becomes more lethal; and the bullying itself becomes systemic. On that level, I don't think any direct comparison can be made with Malta. We're fortunate not to have that history, here. This is why I think that we are more likely to overcome this tendency towards racism, which we have been witnessing lately. But here, too, we have by and large ignored the necessity to educate for equal treatment and equal rights… to try and move the population towards more un- derstanding of how to overcome fear or ignorance. You say we may be likely to 'overcome' racism; but on the basis of Monday's experience – where an anti-racism protest was met with a counter-protest, featuring racist behaviour and slogans – how realistic is that hope? We need to address the issue continuously. We need to discuss the realities of immigration, in order to overcome prejudice; be- cause we do see a lot of often in- credible prejudice here. It's based on ignorance, really… and also distance. I myself have learnt so much, working at the Peace Lab over the last year, just by helping migrants with their CVs… and realising the complexity of the challeng- es that they face. In so doing, I have overcome some of my own deep-seated racist tendencies. And that's what it takes. It takes some humility and listening. And education, basically. I think we've failed on that. Our leaders hav- en't addressed it; and as far as I can see, it hasn't been addressed sufficiently in the Armed Forces, either. On the other hand, I do believe we are capable of overcoming the challenge. The fact that 250 health professionals got together to say 'Life before Politics' over the Easter weekend – when we abandoned both our workers, and migrants, on those boats out at sea – and that over 400 aca- demics signed a letter condemn- ing the policy; not to mention all the excellent work done by the Church: the fact that the Arch- bishop and Bishop of Gozo also offered to provide accommoda- tion for those people… These things do give me hope that we could, in fact, be on an upward trajectory. What did attending Monday's protest mean to you personally? To me, it was a watershed mo- ment: especially given everything that had happened before. As I said, we had an Easter that was blighted, leaving us with blood on our hands. We have seen an increase in push-back policies, and the denial of respect and basic human rights. And with those three Captain Morgan ves- sels, out at sea in those terrible winds… it's easy to feel that we may be spiralling down in our moral standards. And it's easy to feel as though you're the only person worried about the situation, too. So at- tending that demonstration transformed my whole view of where Malta can go. Because it was a crowd of young people – a multi-ethnic group – without any vested interests or ulterior motives. Maybe it's a reaction to the 'push-back' line taken by the gov- ernment; or it might be a product of the increased solidarity we felt for each other over this period of isolation, because of COVID-19: which was also an opportunity to reflect on our moral values. There is, perhaps, greater awareness that we are all in the same boat, and that we need to pull together. So I think we could be at a turn- ing-point; it just needs more per- sistence… more people to speak out against disrespect. For what is the mark of progress? It's being respectful – learning to be able to live together, with respect – es- pecially towards the vulnerable. And these people are so vulner- able… Government has meanwhile defended its migration policies, claiming that the intransigence of the European Union left it with no other options… For the past 20 years, we have been dealing with this issue by cri- sis management… even though this situation was all along obvi- ously going to happen. The more Western countries sell arms, and interfere in the affairs of African countries, the more people are going to be displaced, and flee. This doesn't make those people 'irregular', or 'illegal'. They're not 'criminals'. They're normal peo- ple. They are doing exactly what we ourselves would do, in their place: they are trying to live. And yet, we always deal with it like it's a crisis. This leads me to believe that we've had a 'pol- itics of crisis' for so long, be- cause it suits politicians… to get more money from the European Union, and to avoid really chal- lenging Europe's violent policy towards migrants. And also to avoid challenging the fact that they have once again turned us into an 'Island Fortress'… after we fought for so long not to be a fortress. So when the Foreign Ministry says that 'we need European sup- port, and therefore we have to leave these people out at sea'… well, there are lots of other tactics that could be used, to try to ex- tract us from this difficult situa- tion. Because it is difficult; I don't deny that at all. We have trea- ties such as 'Dublin 2' that we've The presence of left-wing political activist YANA MINTOFF BLAND at last Monday's anti- racism protest did not go unnoticed: raising questions about whether the government's immigration policies are really compatible with its socialist ethos Malta should be 'first and foremost' in justice and equality Today's Labour is, from Joseph Muscat to Robert Abela – a 'business government'. Its priority is to help businesses. And I think that there are elements in business which want to have a divided workforce, where there is inequality Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt