Malta exploited on immigration

Illegal immigration appears to dominate, and threatens to overwhelm, Malta's foreign affairs. It had to be the US, a country which also deals with its fair share of illegal immigrants, whose economy has been teetering on the brink of recession, and which is not even a member country of the EU, to reinforce our Foreign Affairs Minister's faith in the concept of burden-sharing vis-a-vis illegal immigration (May 1).

He should have been lamenting Malta's inability to coax its EU partners to come to Malta's aid, as well as his administration's inept handling of a crisis that increases exponentially with each passing year. Illegal immigration insidiously continues to gnaw at the very fabric of Maltese society.

His statement that "one of the solutions to Malta's immigration problem could be the free movement of protected persons within the EU, [and] which could also lead to Malta rethinking its detention policy" panders to the UNHCR, which once again was scathingly critical of Malta for maintaining its detention policy.

The Minister is either being naive, or he chooses to ignore the precedent the gesture by the US sets; noble, gracious, and generous as it was. He states that he did not think illegal immigrant numbers would increase because of the possibility of further US resettlements and/or an EU-wide free movement policy. He went so far as to accuse other EU countries of using the latter policy as an argument against burden-sharing. So much for EU solidarity.

The Council of Europe's Convention on Action Against Trafficking In Human Beings went into force in Malta on May 1. The convention's objectives are to prevent trafficking, protect the human rights of victims and prosecute traffickers.

Where and who are the human traffickers? Why have governments, most of whose countries make up the Mediterranean rim, not been able to even put a dent in this form of terrorism? Why has the UN been prevented from setting up centres for the orderly processing of genuine refugees in countries just north of the Sahara?

Human traffickers appear to be impervious to any legal action against their operations. They have proven themselves to be ingenious and resourceful in devising ways to circumvent any countermeasures launched against their activities.

The US resettlement, and other measures perceived by traffickers, and their gullible "clientele", as acceptance of the status quo can only serve to encourage more and more illegal immigrants to tempt fate and undertake the perilous passage to the promised land.

And what of the much-heralded Frontex mission? It is now on hold because there is disagreement amongst the participating EU countries as to which country should take those who are rescued at sea. Libya remains as intransigent as ever on this issue.

Hence, the argument goes, since Malta and Italy are the closest safe havens they should take any illegal immigrants picked up by Frontex.

While both Malta and Libya boast of the most cordial of diplomatic relations, that North African country still maintains that it cannot adequately police its borders and coastline despite its oil-driven continued economic growth. More to the point it has been unable (or unwilling) to arrest and prosecute human traffickers.

On the subject of illegal immigration our government assumes a righteous stand in the face of international criticism, wrings its hands and laments the lack of solidarity amongst our various EU partners. Malta's entry in the EU has rendered the island vulnerable to this subtle form of terrorism.

The island nation's location as the EU's southernmost border country has been exploited by a coalition of human trafficking cartels, perhaps operating with the tacit approval of our neighbours to the south, various EU partners, and even the UNHCR. It is time for Malta to rethink its foreign policy objectives.

Charity, Mr Minister, begins at home!