Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1481871
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 OCTOBER 2022 8 INTERVIEW Our response to violence cannot be After recent allegations of ra- cially-motivated police brutali- ty, both the Prime Minister and Home Affairs Ministers stated that: "this case is not repre- sentative of the Police Force as a whole'. Your own reaction, however, was to remind us that there were several analogous incidents in the past: including the murder of Lassana Cisse in 2019. Do feel, then, that this incident IS actually 'represent- ative': if not of the Malta Police Force, at least of a general ma- laise within our law enforce- ment institutions? Yes, absolutely. While I agree that this case does not reflect the attitude of the Malta Police Force, as a whole – in fact we can even confirm this ourselves, through the excellent relations we have with a number of police officers – I would say it is defi- nitely representative of the wid- er system. If you look at the way Malta has chosen to treat migrants, for the past 20 years – because that's how long I've been involved in this issue – it has always been in a very harsh, derogatory and shameful manner. The language we have used; the policies we have successively adopted; our laws; and the way our system has consistently dealt with migrant, in general… it has always been to portray them as 'lesser humans, than us'. That much is very clear. And I also think that, in the past five to eight years, the sit- uation has become much, much worse. Just look at the way mi- grants are treated, from the sec- ond they are even close to Malta, out at sea; to when they disem- bark, and are put through a de- tention regime… Even when you look at what's happening within the commu- nity: our employment policies, for instance; or how migrants are treated by Identity Malta, the agency responsible for issu- ing them with documents… we have received countless reports of racism, in all those spheres. Now: when talking about rac- ism at an institutional level, we're obviously not talking about the same sort of 'violent hunting' we saw in this case. It's more along the lines of comments; insults; harassment; attitudes; and so on. But while it might not be comparable in terms of sheer violence: it is still a systemic ap- proach which dehumanises mi- grants; and which is allowed to go unchecked… Do you also see a direct corre- lation – maybe even a 'causal relationship' – between the violent behaviour of individual racists (including the crimes we're talking about now), and the racist systemic attitudes you have just described? Yes, I do. For us, the link is very clear, and very unmistakable. It's spelt out in large letters: under- lined, and highlighted in bold. You really can't miss it, in fact… So I think that the minister's comment, that these two things are 'unrelated', was not merely 'naïve'... but intentionally naïve. Because when you leave people to die out at sea; when you keep people locked up in detention, and deny them their basic rights; when you organise a 'raid' on migrants who are illegally stay- ing in Malta… but the raid is portrayed as a 'clean-up opera- tion', to 'rid the streets of black people'… by doing all those things, [government is] sending out the clear, unmistakable mes- sage that those people are 'not worthy of proper treatment, as human beings'. Now: I'm not suggesting that the minister's actions are direct- ly responsible, for any individual act of violence. But the govern- ment's words and actions cer- tainly DO fuel violence; because politicians also create a sense of impunity – that it's 'OK' to treat people like that, simply because they are black – and that senti- ment trickles all the way down to the individual police officer, at the local station; or to that Identity Malta clerk, sitting at his desk... These people will feel empow- ered and emboldened [to adopt racist attitudes]; because if they see that the government is treat- ing migrants this way… why shouldn't they, too, simply insult those people; or tell them to 'go back to your country?' And that ['go back to your country'] is just the milder form of racism. The more extreme form is what we've just seen, in this case: where migrants were actively 'hunted on the streets'…. For us, however, the real prob- lem is not so much 'hate speech', at this level; it's more the dis- course at the highest levels of authority. It's 'what the minister says, and does'; it's the silence of the Opposition; it's the exam- ple set by people in positions of power… and who have, in a way, 'psychological control' of the popular mindset. That, to us, is where the real problem lies. Speaking of 'psychological con- trol': the State also has its own broadcaster to act as a prop- aganda platform; and what we've seen on TVM recently, is daily coverage of that 'raid on undocumented migrants'… Precisely: 'black men in hand- cuffs, being carted off in police vans'… At the same time, however, this operation does enjoy wide- spread popular support: and not just among racists, either. After all: you yourself conced- ed that those migrants were 'here illegally'. Doesn't that also mean that government is within its rights, to arrest and deport those people? Yes, but then you have to al- so look at how this operation is being portrayed by the media: especially the State-owned me- dia, which, as you say, is a prop- aganda tool in the hands of gov- ernment. Clearly, the intention is to present those people as if they were 'hardened criminals'; when in fact, they're only guilty of 'overstaying their visa'... At no point, however, did any- one from the ministry show us, or comment about, what hap- pened to all the Maltese people who were renting out accom- modation – sometimes in the form of 'stables' – to those same migrants. These people raked in hundreds of euros, by renting out places that are not even fit for humans to live in... Now: if I, as a Maltese citizen, wanted to rent out my apart- ment to others… I'd have to go through a rigorous MTA li- censing-and-testing procedure, involving a whole list of checks and balances; and if I were to breach any of those conditions: I [emphasized] would be the one in trouble… and not the tourists renting my apartment. In this case, however: the ten- ants are being portrayed as if they were the only 'criminals' involved; and nobody even talks Human rights activist NEIL FALZON, of the Aditus Foundation, argues that there is a 'clear and unmistakable' causal link between government's immigration policies, and an apparent surge in violent racist crime PHOTO: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTATODAY Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt