Outrageous

Jason MoorePalma23/08/2019 09:48

I was quite distressed and frankly angry to read some of the comments on social media about the possibility of the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms coming to Palma with 100 immigrants aboard who had been rescued off the coast of Italy as they attempted to cross from Africa.

These are people who needed our help but some of the comments on social media were outrageous which showed a very closed mindset; send them home, arrest the people traffickers, were just some of the comments I read.

As we are a family newspaper I will not report some of the more offensive and horrible ones. I also found it rather amazing that some of these comments came from foreigners...non-Spaniards who are had settled on Majorca.

They should remember that we are also immigrants who came to the island in search of a new life and thankfully were welcomed with open-arms by the resident population. Immigration has become a problem in Europe and attitudes have changed but that doesn´t mean that we should turn our backs on those in need, especially when they are coming to our island home.

Whatever your views on immigration it is up to the politicians to do something about it and our role is to help where we can because we are members of a tolerant and forward- thinking society.

It is madness, if not crazy, to think that by closing our borders to immigrants all problems will go away. Until the attitudes of some start to change then we have a problem within.

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4 comments

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Britbabe | over 5 years ago

Yes, I agree that I am an immigrant here in Mallorca. But I had to prove that I could support myself financially before being given permission to reside here. I pay my taxes and am not a burden on the state.

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MelB | over 5 years ago

If Mr. Moore feels so strongly about this matter perhaps he should kindly offer to have one or more of these “immigrants” stay at his for a few months, until they settle into the local community, find work and contribute to the local economy.

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Geoffrey | over 5 years ago

I'd like to know why Jason Moore has a problem with anyone wanting to see the people traffickers arrested. Does he not see that these vermin are the only winners in this whole sad situation, or would he rather close his own mind to any dissenting opinion? He must know that the undesirables who make Majorca holidaymakers' lives a misery are often not exactly native Spanish. An intelligent man like him, you'd think, would see that you solve none of the world's problems by doing nothing more than endlessly rehome and resettle.

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S.O. | over 5 years ago

Very well said Jason! I don’t always agree with your editorials but today I do, wholeheartedly. I have often pointed out that ‘expats’ are also immigrants but that hasn’t always gone down too well with some of your readers.

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