Treatment of migrants

A report of an international fact-finding mission of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the situation of illegal immigrants in Malta that was published last month (Report No 403/2, September 2004) criticises both the Maltese Government for its treatment of migrants and the European Union for its lack of solidarity with countries receiving these illegal immigrants.

The president of the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights, Helene Flautre, was reported to have welcomed its publication "because it encourages an urgent reflection on the requests by countries which are called on to act as a buffer between us and the world's misery".

The FIDH mission visited Malta between February 21 and 26, following reports on the plight of refugees in Malta, published among others by Amnesty International, the Jesuit Refugee Centre and the Malta Human Rights Association, and after it received telephone calls from asylum seekers.

The FIDH report criticises the European Commission for sidestepping the issue of the treatment of asylum seekers and migrants in its reports to the council on Malta's preparations for EU membership.

Most of all, the report criticises the Maltese authorities for opting to keep the illegals under administrative detention instead of using open accommodation. The report acknowledges that the Maltese authorities draw attention to the impact of a high inflow of migrants on a small society like Malta's but then goes on to ignore its relevance.

For example, no mention is made anywhere of the risk of higher incidence of certain diseases which were thought to have been eradicated from Malta for many years and which might be rearing their ugly heads again among us, partly as a result of this human flow and through the people who come in contact with them in the line of duty.

Little thought is sometimes given to the higher risks that Maltese society runs because of its smallness. Or that one of the reasons why it has survived is that for the past couple of centuries it resorted to a strict observance of quarantining foreigners for health reasons.

These are the hard reality and facts of life. Now the international community and some unrealistic campaigners wish the Maltese people to allow illegal immigrants to roam freely in Malta, where they can also come in contact directly with the criminal community to organise the last leg of their trip to the European continent.

Of course, just because Malta is physically small is no excuse for mistreating migrants. But when uninvited arrivals in any one year are equivalent to around half the live births of the country, then the problem assumes a different dimension and one can understand why the authorities panic.

Having said that, the European Movement (Malta) agrees that these wretched people should be accorded the highest standards of humane treatment possible. Their human rights must be fully respected, but not at any cost.

Hey there is something else out there called the safety and security of the Maltese people, and we have to mind that as well. We cannot be completely one-sided and blind to the needs of our citizens as well. Hence, let us look for the right balance.

The Maltese Government supports the German-Italian proposal calling for the establishment of processing camps for would-be illegal immigrants in North Africa as a measure of arresting the flow of illegal immigrants. We augur that the Government is successful in this quest. But it will not work.

First of all, we cannot understand how non-EU countries are going to accept to carry the burden for the EU and for how much. Can we trust such countries to really put their heart into the job and would professional smugglers not bypass these camps and carry on with their despicable trade by other routes?

We believe that the EU must provide the front-line states like Malta with the financial means to mount proper patrolling of the seas and discourage these flows. If illegal immigrants have to land here, Malta should be given the necessary means to keep them in humane shelters, give them medical treatment and proper accommodation, free some of them from administrative detention, and process their requests as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, the world should stop criticising us for acting in self defence when confronted by a challenge that is much beyond our means to handle.