The new drift of the continents

A wall collapsed along the Mediterranean, bringing Europe and Africa closer. At the same time, within the dynamics triggered by globalization, the Old Continent is ever more affected by the unfolding of events in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe alike, notably, the explosive situations in Syria and Ukraine. The face of this new “continental drift” is the migration phenomenon, which was discussed in La Valetta May 2-5 during an international conference with contributions from representatives of fifteen countries. The root causes of the phenomenon. The phenomenon of migration “should not make us afraid of loosing our own identities”. In fact, “we must seek new and convincing cultural approaches”: Msgr. Charles Scicluna, auxiliary bishop of La Valetta, conveyed the position of the Maltese Church during a seminar on “European Union and the Mediterranean: the economic crisis and the migrations phenomenon”, promoted by the MCL with the EU’s contribution. The prelate highlighted the “complexity” of this issue that in the case of Malta is especially strong, given the influx of 6 thousand “disembarked” migrants on a population of 400 thousand. The bishop placed special emphasis on the ethical and religious aspects of welcome, and recalled: “they are our brothers and sisters, and should be treated as such” “so as not to commit serious injustices”. When it comes to migrations, he pointed out, “we spend a lot, perhaps too much, in ‘cosmetic interventions'”, “while instead we should be addressing the root causes of the problem”, namely, the situation in the Countries of departure. Msgr. Scicluna thus made an appeal to strengthen interreligious dialogue, “especially with Islam”, as a way to promote responsible integration which demands “reciprocity” in Muslim Countries. Altruism, realism. The demographic, social, geopolitical, economic aspects of migration were also addressed in the Maltese capital city. Msgr. Giancarlo Perego, director of the Migrantes Foundation of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, said: “We can’t expect that migration waves change or stop to meet our wishes. It would be just a dream”. Facing the migration phenomena requires “altruism” and “realism”, along with “solidarity-based responses”. Perego proposed detailed figures on population movement towards Europe and reception offered or denied. “When speaking about these issues it is important to stick to reality. Today 232 million people in the world are forced to flee their countries for hunger, war, environmental disasters, political and religious persecutions. Ten years ago they were 70 million less, while it is expected that in 2040 they will amount to 400 million”. In the past decade 150 thousand migrants have arrived in Italy; 33 thousand people stayed, and the rest left headed towards Northern Europe: France, the U.K., Germany, Sweden… Msgr. Perego pointed out that “a person who is hungry, has no water and lives in the midst of a war has no intention of staying in his homeland”. It is therefore necessary “to understand the situation at large and to develop targeted reception tools” which in Europe require solidarity at Community level. According to the director of Migrantes “it is necessary to go beyond an ideological interpretation of migration”, be prepared to address its multi-faceted aspects and prevent new challenges that may arise. Giancarlo Perego recalled that ever more often migrations are at the service of human trafficking (for reasons linked to prostitution, sales of organs, undeclared work.) The speaker thus delved into other aspects, which include unaccompanied minors, the growing presence of foreigners in prisons, the scarcity of funds allocated to development cooperation, media distortion. The role of the EU, Christian values. The experience of Spain was described by Rafael Rodriguez Ponga, president of the Fundacion Humanismo y Democracia. “In my country – he explained – there are some 5 million foreigners, but owing to the deep crisis many of them are returning to their countries of origin”. “For a long time we have viewed foreigners as a threat or as a problem, but perhaps we should ask ourselves about the overall meaning of these phenomena”, how to address them with overarching projects and what could be the role of the EU. “We must equally focus on the values of Christian humanism: we are all the sons and daughters of the same earth and we could happily live here together”. Among the speakers, (from Cyprus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Morocco), stood out the words of the president of the Christian labour movement (Oza) in Austria Norbert Schnedl: “We cannot abandon Mediterranean countries. Migrations are a European theme to be addressed in the framework of European solidarity”.