African migration (2)

The editorial Africa And Europe: Migration And Development (November 27) was nothing short of a complete pathetic apology for Malta's failures at the conference. To start with may I point out that, according to the international news media, the conference was labelled as a meeting of the countries concerned about illegal immigration from Africa towards Europe not about migration and development as the editorial implies. The word development was brought up during the conference by none other than EU Commissioner Franco Frattini who offered assistance to those African countries who would accept back their citizens caught in Europe illegally, without any formalities.

The defeatist views on the matter expressed in the editorial only suggested that Malta has to put up with this problematic issue for a whole generation to come, whether we like or not. Furthermore, the editorial gave the impression that, unfortunately, Malta lost out on the repatriation treaty with Libya, as a fait accompli and something which is unattainable. To add insult to injury it went even one step further to applaud the simplistic attitude of the Libyan government's stand on the whole issue of illegal immigration. Since when has The Times become the mouthpiece of the Libyan government? And why do we as a sovereign, independent country have to share the burden of someone else due to their incompetence?

God forbid that this newspaper does not reflect the Malta government's stand and attitude towards such a conference of great importance, where Malta's and Europe's security and well-being were at stake.

Unfortunately it is a known fact that the present administration has never established a defined, coherent policy on the issue. The Malta government was and still is untrustworthy, even with its own people, to state its stand on illegal immigration. That is why Malta lost out at this gathering.

Perhaps in the future, this newspaper should project serious solutions and other options towards such a delicate matter, instead of simplistic platitudes, contradictory statements and a lot of hot air. Readers expect more from a so-called prestigious newspaper.