European Parliament adopts Malta resolution

The chances of Malta obtaining tangible help to deal with the problem of illegal immigration were given a boost yesterday following the approval of a resolution in the European Parliament.

The resolution, backed by all the political groups, was overwhelmingly approved by a show of hands and followed a recent visit to Malta by MEPs from the Civil Liberties Committee.

The final text of the resolution suggests a number of concrete measures that should be taken by the European Commission and Council, including:

¤ A larger role for the European Union in the management of humanitarian emergencies linked to migratory flows and asylum seekers.

¤ An extraordinary meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers Council in Malta to take account of the need to adopt urgent and immediate measures to address the anticipated upsurge in the number of irregular migrants arriving in Malta over the summer months.

¤ The creation of an emergency fund to tackle humanitarian crises in the member states and to incorporate in the new funds for the period 2007-2013 an emergency mechanism allowing financial assistance to be provided in emergency situations.

¤ An initiative to be taken by the Commission, as soon as possible, with a view to revising the Dublin II convention, by calling into question its very principle, namely that the member state responsible for dealing with an asylum application is the first country that applicants reach, which puts an intolerable burden on the countries situated in the south and east of the EU, and by introducing a fair mechanism for sharing responsibilities among the member states

The resolution also refers to the poor conditions in which illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in Malta are held in. The resolution calls for action to be taken by the Maltese authorities in this regard.

The resolution specifies that Malta must respect its obligations under international law with regard to asylum seekers and deplores the unacceptable living conditions of the migrants and asylum seekers in the administrative detention centres.

The European Parliament is also calling upon the Maltese authorities to substantially reduce the length of time migrants are held for and to ensure that asylum applications are processed swiftly and efficiently.

The MEPs praised the openness and transparency adopted by the government on this issue and the total access given to the visiting delegation.

Following the vote, both the Nationalist and Labour MEPs expressed their satisfaction.

Welcoming the positive vote, David Casa and Simon Busuttil said the resolution does not mean Malta has now solved its problems of immigration. However, the vote means Malta is no longer talking on its own.

"Now Malta has the European Parliament firmly behind her pointing clearly to possible solutions that can be acted upon", the Nationalist MEPs said.

They also noted that following the suggestion of the European People's Party, the European Parliament is now also calling upon the Council of Ministers to hold an extraordinary meeting in Malta specifically on this issue.

"We want them to meet in Malta and to take the cue from the European Parliament and to take urgent measures ahead of summer," the two MEPs said. Labour MEPs Louis Grech, Joseph Muscat and John Attard Montalto also described yesterday's vote as an important step forward for Malta.

They expressed their satisfaction that many of the proposals submitted by the Socialist group over the past weeks on the issue were taken up.

The three Labour MEPs said the ball is now in the government's court and urged it to ride on the wave of the European Parliament resolution in order to push hard for concrete action by the Commission and the Council.

"The government should now make sure that other member states approve the various suggestions proposed by the European Parliament," they said.