Strategic objectives of Malta's foreign policy - 2

Malta will continue to place a high focus on the problem of illegal immigration and its international aspects. Illegal immigration constitutes a serious concern for Malta which, at 1,200 persons per sq km, has one of the highest population densities in the world. In this context, 2005 has presented unprecedented pressures.

We have not, and will not relent, in our continuing efforts to address this problem bilaterally, within the context of the European Union, the OSCE, the United Nations and other organisations. The international community must be united in combating international criminal organisations which carry out human trafficking and smuggling to their financial gain without regard to life and limb.

In this regard, I recall my address to the United Nations General Assembly last September in which I asked the United Nations, in particular through UNHCR, to combat the international criminal activity of human trafficking and smuggling which is itself prejudicial to the rights of genuine refugees and persons deserving of humanitarian status.

Illegal immigration requires a holistic approach as delineated by Malta and Libya in their joint non-paper discussed in Malta at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the 5 + 5 Western Mediterranean Dialogue last June. At that meeting Malta and Libya also called for a high-level conference on illegal immigration involving the countries of origin, transit and destination. We welcome the holding of such a conference this year by our 5 + 5 co-participants, Spain and Morocco.

We will continue to hold firm on our principles of providing due legal shelter to genuine refugees and persons holding humanitarian status and in this regard Malta will promote the adherence of all countries to the United Nations Convention relating to the status of Refugees.

Equally we believe that illegal immigrants, who have been so ascertained after the procedure related to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees has been carried out, must be repatriated to their states of origin or immediate transit and that all countries must undertake their obligation to combat illegal immigration.

We shall continue to work to ensure that the European Union encourages, through greater development aid, countries which adhere to their international obligation to combat human trafficking and smuggling and also honour the international obligations undertaken by them to accept back illegal immigrants without any further procedures.

Malta will inevitably have to continue to request assistance for the resettlement of refugees and persons holding humanitarian status. In this regard I would like to thank all those countries with whom discussions were held and are currently at hand for the provision of resettlement and for those providing or offering other help. I would like to thank in particular the governments of the Netherlands, Germany and the United States for their assistance in the resettlement of those deserving of protection under international law.

The Commonwealth

In the coming two years, Malta will serve as chair-in-office of the Commonwealth, an organisation of 53 countries which continues to be a valuable platform for democracy and development. Malta will strive to contribute to a Commonwealth which enjoys a strengthened political dialogue.

Within the European Union, we will intensify our participation in issues which relate to Commonwealth countries and seek increased interaction between the Commonwealth and the EU itself. Malta perceives the Commonwealth as also having a major development dimension in a spirit of internal solidarity.

In this regard, we are fully committed to the effective implementation of the Commonwealth Action Plan for the Digital Divide and the work programme endorsed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta last November. We have already expressed this commitment by a substantial contribution to the Voluntary Fund created for this purpose. Furthermore, Malta is conscious that the Commonwealth dimension emphasises the perils of global warming particularly for small island states whose very existence and viability is endangered by this phenomenon.

Development

This year Malta will elaborate, in alignment with the EU development policy, a National Policy of Humanitarian and Development Assistance aimed at assisting the poorest countries, particularly in the sub-Saharan countries and the Horn of Africa.

This policy will be based on the notion of 'combating poverty through development' and will build on the concept of partnership with NGOs and Civil Society in the championing and execution of actions and projects directed at making a difference on the ground. In this regard, the development assistance programmes launched in Sri Lanka following the tsunami tragedy have already shown considerable success over the past year.

Good governance and democratic legitimacy

Good governance and democratic legitimacy are important factors in the stability required for economic development. In this regard, Malta is pursuing its policy of contributing to election monitoring missions in particular those of the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

We shall continue to develop a growing pool of expertise in this sphere to be put to the service of the international community. Malta will also seek to develop this expertise by becoming a centre of excellence for the training of election monitors which is a human resource increasingly required in the world today.

Conclusion

Malta does not believe that territorial expanse should be a factor in a country's contribution to the international community. Its foreign policy has consistently been directed at contributing achievable proposals and ideas, providing a meeting place acceptable to all, being a catalyst for peace, dialogue and cross-cultural understanding.

Occasionally, we also present select candidates for international posts where we feel that our competence and preparation are truly strongly founded. We thank all those who supported us in the past year in such bids.

We do believe, however, that strategic positioning is an important factor in international relations. Malta's geo-political reality as an EU country and as a Mediterranean country with strong links with its neighbours, and its characteristic linguistic and cultural versatility, makes it well poised to serve as "a dual gateway" to North Africa and to the European internal market both for goods and services from countries in the vicinity and also from countries which are further away from these markets.

Malta seeks to partner and not to compete in providing logistical support and human expertise in successfully trading with these markets. Malta is at the hub of a region, in the Central Mediterranean, that has great potential for growth and for economic interaction which can be combined with closer political and cultural co-operation.

In this regard, Malta shall continue to work for greater understanding between cultures and civilisations, for increased trade and investment, for the enforcement of international law and the combating of criminality, for a world in which development defeats poverty, in which dialogue outweighs fear, in which moderation discredits extremism, and peace overwhelms conflict.

This is the concluding part of a two-part article by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The first part was carried last Sunday.