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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 AUGUST 2022 Populist tonic for the summer malaise Editorial NOW that the dust has settled, after the unruly scenes witnessed in Hamrun last week, it may be worth put- ting the entire incident into some perspective. Certainly, the sight of over 20 people – regardless of their nationality – coming to blows on a busy, urban street, is not something people can lightly afford to ignore. Leaving aside the danger that such incidents inevitably represent to the wider community: this street-fight also seems to expose the fact that our community police officers (through no real fault of their own) are simply ill-equipped to deal with such emergencies. If nothing else, the entire event should have served as a springboard to a serious discussion on Malta's law enforcement capabilities. Clearly, it is the lack of policing in communities where there is a high rate of non-cohesive, foreign residents, that is the real prob- lem. Moreover, there is also a clear need for better integration policies, that allow foreigners – like those tax-paying business owners who have made Hamrun their home – to become part of the community, rath- er than just being treated either as cheap labour or rent-payers. Nonetheless, there is a limit to how far this discus- sion can go, before it takes a turn for the farcical. As usual, the political response seems to have taken the form of a knee-jerk reaction – typical of the 'silly sea- son' - focusing only on the nationality of the protago- nists themselves: while conveniently ignoring similar scenes of incivility between Maltese nationals, often as not during village feasts (as evidenced by a viral TikTok video, showing bloodied noses from a festa brawl). It is ironic, for instance, that Joe Giglio – the PN's spokesperson for home affairs; but also a lawyer who has defended clients against deportation – would call for the 'immediate deportation' of 'foreigners who break the law'. The operative word there is 'immediate': for as Giglio himself knows only too well, deportation is al- ready an option that can be (and often is) used in such cases. Last year, for instance, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri even boasted that "[Malta] deported a record number of people who didn't have a right for asylum" in 2019. Camilleri did not provide any figures; but we know, from previous statistics, that as many as 560 foreign nationals were deported, to 30 different countries, in 2018. Clearly, then, the issue is not that Malta lacks the capability (or even the political will) to resort to de- portation, in such cases. What seems to be irking Joe Giglio is the fact that these deportations do not take place 'immediately' enough. Yet Giglio, of all people, should know that depor- tation is not a straightforward process; it can be chal- lenged, especially if it breaches international law, or the defendants' protection from torture, or inhumane or degrading treatment, once returned to a country of origin. This is as it should be: for deportation – like all other legal procedures – is also subject to the same system of checks and balances that underpins all other aspects of criminal law. It would be regrettable, therefore, to have to con- clude that Joe Giglio is actually advocating the re- moval of such checks and balances from our criminal justice system: so as to dispense 'summary justice', without any recourse to an appeal, or a defence of any kind. Added to his other proposal – i.e., a call to enlist the Armed Forces, in local law-enforcement efforts – this can only reinforce the notion that the Nationalist Par- ty is once again lurching towards the extreme right. To be fair, however, PN leader Bernard Grech ev- idently had a more nuanced outlook on the matter, given his slightly divergent views. It is arguable that he is not keen to see the PN go, yet again, down the route that Adrian Delia took it during the 2019 European elections: when it complained of 'population bombs' and 'foreign workers'. However, this memo clearly hasn't reached the of- fices of Joe Giglio and Darren Carabott; a fact which, once again, exposes 'divisions' – albeit of a policy nature, this time – within Malta's main Opposition party. This is problematic for the PN, for other reasons. It also gives fodder to Prime Minister Robert Abela: who now uses the PN's calls for deportation, to justify his own refusal to offer safe haven to rescued asylum seekers; not to mention his equally 'extremist' policy of simply stranding them, illegally, aboard Captain Morgan boats, during the summer of 2020. When Abela sees the PN jumping on the far-right's bandwagon, he always weaponises it to justify his own government's heavy-handed reactions: and this does no favours to the PN, or to the country as a whole. The PN needs to opt for a more humanitarian un- derstanding of the problems faced by port-towns like Hamrun: where cheap rent makes it attractive to low- er-skilled or lower-paid migrants. Hamrun deserves both the support of government integration efforts, as well as better policing, to keep its streets and residents safe. So rather than simply adopt knee-jerk, populist po- sitions, the PN would do well to analyse the problems faced by residents better, offering a more humane alternative to the do-nothing approach Labour has employed. 21 August 2012 MRA informed at 'the last minute' about former BP boss's Malta oil deal MALTA Resources Authority officials were only informed "at the last minute" that former BP boss Tony Hayward had acquired 75% of its participating interest in Area 4 offshore Malta. Hayward, who spent his entire career at BP until the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico which cost 11 lives in 2010, wiped tens of billions off the value of the busi- ness and brought his tenure at the helm of BP to an abrupt end, acquired the interest in the Production Sharing Contract held by Phoe- nicia Energy Company Limited – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc – through his new company, the London listed Genel Energy Plc. According to a government spokesman, MRA was informed that Phoenicia Energy Company Limited were in the final stages of discussions with a reputable exploration and production company for the farm-out agree- ment. "MRA was only informed of the company – Genel Energy Plc – a few minutes before the agreement was signed," the spokesman said, adding however that MRA still has to complete its due diligence before government approves the assignment. "If the due diligence proves satisfactory, Phoenicia Energy Company Ltd may wish to have representatives of Genel Energy at- tend the next meeting with government," the spokesman said. But while eyebrows were raised on Tony Hayward's interest in the Maltese oil explo- ration concession, the spokesman said that conditions safeguarding the environment and ensuring best industry practices are already imposed within the current sharing contract with Phoenicia Energy Company Limited. News of Hayward's acquisition hit the headlines across the globe last Thursday, as his Iraq-focused oil company also expanded into Morocco after building up its position in Kurdistan. The deals add about 25,000 square kilo- metres of acreage to Genel's portfolio and fol- low a US$450 million deal to boost its position in the Miran gas field. The company still has about US$1 billion to spend on acquisitions. ... Quote of the Week "Whenever possible our courts have used deportation but it is not credible to have an Opposition spokesperson speaking in favour of deportation and in his professional capacity argues against it in court" Prime Minister Robert Abela after PN spokesperson Joe Giglio for positing "immediate deportation" of foreigners who cause mayhem MaltaToday 10 years ago