Speaking in parliament of Malta yesterday, Home Affairs and Justice Minister Tonio Borg said the proposed amendments to the Refugees Act were being made in the light of the continuing crisis in irregular immigration that was currently plaguing the country. He said it was not correct to state that the problem had increased after we joined the EU as had been stated in certain sections of the media and added that a detention policy was here to stay.
The minister said that unrest at closed detention centres was by and large caused by those immigrants who were to be refused refugee status. He said the opposition and the government were in agreement over policy on irregular immigration which would be discussed at a task force meeting in the coming days.
Minister Borg said one had to attempt to decrease international obligations on irregular immigration without affecting our country’s position. He referred to the case of the repatriation of Eritrean refugees stating that it was impossible to go by the recommendations of Amnesty International in the choosing of countries for such repatriation.
Referring to the proposed changes to the International Search and Rescue Convention, Minister Borg said that we must only intervene in cases where there were vessels in distress or in difficulty. He said that there were over 600 people who died in the Mediterranean Sea in situations where rescue operations did not arrive in time.
The Minister said that Malta had two options; either to refuse to abide by the new international regulations or to reduce the size of our search and rescue area, the latter of which was being explored at length by the Maltese government.
Referring to the ongoing discussions between Libya and Malta, the minister said that the Libyans had no problem accepting back immigrants who left illegally from their shores. He said that while accepting the difficulties that Libya had in monitoring its own coastline, this country should be assisting us in this massive problem. He referred to his recent meeting in Morocco where he held talks with a Libyan government representative on the problems facing Malta in the field of irregular immigration.
Commenting on the repatriation agreement between Libya and Italy, the Minister said this was worthless as in the European Union, the Dublin 2 agreement holds sway. He said it was practically impossible to stem the flow of those persons who were leaving their countries for a better life but one had to be practical in the circumstances.
Minister Borg said these amendments to the Refugees Act were being made to attempt to eliminate the abuses that were taking place in the system. He quoted various cases where persons applied for refugee status when they had absolutely no reason to and this situation was prejudicing the genuine cases.
Referring to the detention facilities at Safi, Minister Borg said that there would be the capacity for 1,000 people but the situation was so dire that tents had to be put up. Thirty three per cent of immigrants in Malta were from Sudan or about 500 in all and if they did not need to stay here, they would be repatriated, whatever the cost, he added.
The government would not tolerate those who resist repatriation if they did not need to stay here, the minister said. The bill also provides new powers for the Police Commissioner to re-arrest those immigrants who do not cooperate and the possibility of having two Commissioners for Refugees, he said.
Minister Borg said that the powers of the Immigration Commissioner would also be strengthened and added that consultation on new legislation with the opposition is held in parliament and not before a bill is proposed.
Labour spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs, Gavin Gulia said the problem of irregular immigration was a national problem that required a national remedy. He said that the opposition had always treated this problem as a national one and had never attempted to gain political mileage out of the situation. Dr Gulia said there were various misconceptions among the people that were downgrading the debate on irregular immigration. He said the Geneva Convention of 1951 was the current international legislation on refugees and this stated precisely that those entitled for this status were persons who escaped torture, political persecution or racial discrimination.
The Labour spokesperson said that political persecution was now superseded by economic migration which was partially created by globalisation as the gap between rich and poor countries continued to grow. He said the Geneva Convention did not provide any remedy for such economic migrants and that there was a lacuna in international legislation on this subject.
Dr Gulia said the public must understand that political migrants are to be accorded all protection but economic migrants have to be repatriated. Reacting to Minister Borg’s speech, Dr Gulia said it was true that the problem of illegal immigration did not crop up after EU membership and it was also a fact that most of the immigrants wanted to go to the European mainland and not stay in Malta. He also referred to certain reports in the media that tended to be pro-immigrant and called for a balanced view on the subject. Dr Gulia said that detention had to be applied in the case of illegal immigrants as it is in the law and there was no other option in this regard. He said that the problem of accommodation was not only in closed centres but also in open centres as the number of immigrants continued to increase.
The Labour spokesperson said it was not the case that initiatives such as the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Peace Lab were controlled by the Church and called for more participation by this institution as the problem was also a moral one. He applauded the government’s decision to immediately repatriate the batch of 140 immigrants who arrived last week and who were clearly economic migrants but questioned whether these were forcibly sent back. Dr Gulia said that Libya should sign a repatriation agreement with Malta as it did with Italy. He said that although our Search and Rescue area had been slightly reduced, it was still very large and we would now in effect be responsible for those emergencies that occur in this area. He stated that the country closest to the incident should be responsible for the rescue operation.
The Labour spokesperson asked how the repatriation agreement between Italy and Libya was worthless if the Italians wanted it so much. Dr Gulia said the opposition remained committed to achieving consensus on the issue of irregular immigration adding that it was the Labour Party who had consistently come out with the best proposals on the subject adding that most of the suggestions made in the Conference on Irregular Immigration were actually now in the amendments to the Refugee Act. He also appealed to the government to include the opposition in a joint front for its representations to the international community on the issue.
Dr Gulia called on the EU to be more cooperative and assist Malta with burden sharing adding that he was worried that the detention period for immigrants was no longer to be kept at the discretion of the country in which immigrants were arriving and which was to be reduced to six months instead of a year. He said the opposition was in agreement on the increase in refugee commissioners but expressed reservations on the fact that these were part timers. How can one address a national problem with a dilettantesque mechanism, Dr Gulia asked? Dr Gulia said that racist elements were also present in Malta. He called for an end to such racism against immigrants and urged all to be tolerant on the subject as every person has human dignity.
Author: Gerald Fenech
Source: Malta Independent
