African countries left out of EU-African conference

Malta is deeply concerned at the planned exclusion of the Horn of Africa countries from the forthcoming EU-African conference (being held in Rabat, Morocco, from July 10-11) on illegal immigration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Michael Frendo, stated on Friday.

The minister was addressing the opening session in St Julian's of the 20th Anniversary Information and Training Seminar for Euro-Med Diplomats, co-organised by the University of Malta's Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies and the European Commission.

Speaking to The Sunday Times after the session, Dr Frendo clarified that he had raised his concern at the recent EU General Affairs and External Relations Council, as well as with the European Commission and the two countries co-organising the conference, Morocco and Spain.

"If the conference does not include these countries, Malta will nevertheless attend - but make its serious preoccupation clearly known," he stated. "Under present plans, the Rabat conference will focus on immigration from West Africa, while a second conference - to be held in Libya - will deal with flows from the Horn of Africa.

"However, the date of the latter has yet to be fixed. Meanwhile, I fear that we will give the gangs of criminal traffickers the wrong signal - the central Mediterranean 'route' will emerge as the 'soft option' - meaning increased flows of illegal immigrants to Malta and Italy, their main source area being the Horn of Africa. Each conference should address both immigration routes".

Dr Frendo emphasised in his speech to the seminar that "we have to send very clear messages to the criminal gangs that there are no soft spots from which to enter the EU. The issue of illegal immigration has now moved high on to the EU agenda, as seen from the EU Council's decisions last December. There is a work plan for 2006 - we are now waiting to see if it has left the paper it is written on, to deliver tangible results.

"As part of our values, Malta completely supports the need to protect persons protected by international law - refugees, people eligible for humanitarian status. That must continue at all costs. However, if you want to strengthen the rights of these people, you also have to address the issue of illegal immigrants. This problem must be dealt in a holistic manner, delivering value to our citizens, on the basis of strong repatriation programmes, development assistance to countries of origin and reintegration aid to the repatriated illegal immigrants."

After a brief presentation of the recently issued Strategic Objectives of Malta's Foreign Policy, Dr Frendo indicated his ambition to develop trade and investment links within the central Mediterranean area, by creating an economic forum comprising Malta, Tunisia, Libya and Italy. He also urged a far greater focus within the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on cultural understanding and what theologian Hans Kung described as 'preventative dialogue'.

"In the face of increasing extremism which wants to end dialogue, the silent majority needs to find a voice and push for a moderate approach to create an overwhelming movement for peace and understanding in the region," he added.

Setting out the EU Presidency's Euro-Mediterranean Partnership priorities, the Austrian ambassador to Malta, Dr Elizabeth Kehrer, told the seminar that key focus areas were the Code of Conduct on Terrorism and the Five Year Work Programme adopted by the Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Barcelona last November.

"Our Presidency was conceived as a return to 'business as usual', putting dialogue and reform at the forefront our efforts." The Danish cartoons crisis highlighted that the Partnership "has a long way to go still to create a real zone of dialogue exchange and co-operation as proclaimed in the Barcelona Declaration of 1995. We have to strengthen equal participation at all levels and dialogue at level of civil societies," Dr Kehrer emphasised.

In addition to running regular meetings of Euromed. Bodies, and two ministerial conferences on trade (Marrakech, March 26) and Economics and Finance (Tunis, June 25-26), Austria was organising several other parallel events. These included a seminar on May 15 on the terrorism code and a study group convening on May 29 to evaluate various existing reform proposals for the Partnership issued by several countries. However, present Middle East tensions had rendered uncertain the holding of a seminar on migration.

Last month, Austria hosted a first encounter in Vienna of Europe-based imams, and will host a seminar later this month on racism, xenophobia and the media; with another proposed for June 28 on inclusion and diversity in the Mediterranean. Euro-med Partners have also been invited to the forthcoming third meeting in Vienna of the UN High Level Group of the Alliance of Civilisations

"The Presidency has also facilitated discussions generating a formal statute for the Euro-Mediterranean Anna Lindt Foundation for the Dialogue of Cultures in Alexandria, including rules of procedure for its board of governors, now designated," Dr Kehrer continued.

As a way to strengthen the urgently needed co-operation between cultures and societies, Austria sought to promote the Partnership's parliamentary dimension by encouraging closer co-operation between the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, national parliaments and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.