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When 29 individuals perished off the Sicilian coast, there was little to show in the way of concern in Malta. Those 29 persons entered Maltese waters after a gruelling journey across the Sahara desert.
At sea they were discovered by the maritime and Air units of the Armed Forces of Malta. They were observed from a distance. There was a determined attempt not to communicate with them and indeed there was a very clear instruction that contact should not be made with the boat people.
As they continued with their boat trip in Force 7 winds, they did not know what awaited them. Twenty-nine people drowned off the Italian coast. The 29 humans who perished were not Europeans or European Union citizens. They were from unknown countries and they were black. The Maltese press was unperturbed by the event, the Italian press slightly more concerned.
In parliament, Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela is reported to have said that the boat people had refused help from the AFM. It turns out that there was no offer of help from the AFM.
It follows that Notary Abela was, to put it mildly, mistaken. In a more direct manner, he misled parliament.
In another democracy in the Western world, such a revelation would lead to recriminations. An independent inquiry would have been appropriate and in normal circumstances, a resignation.
This week, MaltaToday carries the comment of Notary Tony Abela. He states simply that the case is closed. The case is indeed closed for the 29 men and women who died and drowned. If they had been brought over into Maltese custody they would be alive today.
Human life has a value, we believe, but it appears that to many in Malta there are two types of human life. The one that is relished by whites and is European, and the one by African blacks.
The deafening silence from the media, the Labour and Nationalist party, opinion makers and the Church is scandalous. The silence is more resounding when we note that after our story the Italian and Sicilian media were all over the place with the MaltaToday news story but not a whisper about the subject on State TV and radio, the political media and the so called independent press.
It confirms that human life has a different dimension depending on the colour of skin and geographical origin of the poor souls.
More shocking is Notary Tony Abela’s statement. It is unacceptable that the notary comes up with the answer “the case is closed”. Notary Abela has misled parliament and in doing so has raised some serious doubt over his standing as parliamentary secretary responsible for the army.
He may choose to accuse us of picking on him. And to that we would reply that Abela is attempting to mislead – no different to the way he misled parliament when he told them that the ill-fated boat had refused help when in fact it had not.
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