A testing time for Heroes

La Stampa reports another wave of immigrants landing in Lampedusa. By ten o’clock last night four boats had arrived in less than 6 hours carrying 218 persons. The Libyan border with Tunisia is one massive refugee camp while the south to north migration seems to not have been deterred by the troubles in North Africa. This combination, added to the fact that the last thing on the mind of North African authorities is the policing of the ships leaving their ports, threatens to become an explosive nightmare and an eyeopener for the likes of the Swedish Foreign Minister.

Intanto non si ferma la nuova ondata di sbarchi di immigrati nordafricani sull’isola di Lampedusa. Dalle 22 di ieri sera sono state quattro le imbarcazioni arrivate in poco meno di sei ore, con a bordo complessivamente 218 persone, tra cui una sola donna.

Will the Maltese authorities work just as hard to provide a safe haven and a promising future for the waves of refugees and immigrants that are bound to start hitting the island as the weather gets fairer? Will the heroic and valiant efforts put at the service of the international community be maintained? This could be seen as a crisis as well as an opportunity. This is our chance to show the Swedes, the Canadians, the Chinese, the Russians and any other country that has been using Malta as a bridge for evacuation that there really is no difference between a boatload of Somalis, Eritreans or Sudanese fleeing a war-torn country and a Frigate-load, Hercules-load or Catamaran-load of Canadians, Chinese, Croatians or you name it fleeing a war-torn country.

This is when the Heroes with a capital H will begin to shine.

Photo from Wall Street Journal.