Time is not on Malta's side

I have stated, orally and in writing, that the government and the opposition have run shy of tackling the illegal immigration problem with the strength and energy it demands. If ever we needed proof, this has been supplied by a news item from Brussels (September 12) admitting that "Maltese MPs were conspicuous by their absence" in meetings held previously to discuss the problem that is afflicting the frontier states of the EU.

I had warned, in the teeth of politically-correct writers, that this was a problem that should not be allowed to grow as we are too small a nation to ever have to face ethnic disagreements.

There just isn't the space for two extremely dissimilar cultures to co-exist as peacefully as one would wish. This hasn't happened in the large countries of Europe; it is hardly likely to happen here.

Those who thought along the same lines were answered by being called racist, by being assured that Frontex would solve the problem, when what was needed was a calm analysis of the situation and corrective action.

Now that Frontex has admitted that it cannot solve the problem, now that the Armed Forces of Malta admit that they are at their wits' end as to what to do, now that the ship of state is beginning to look overloaded and the captain and crew have begun to see the possibility of its foundering we send a beefed-up delegation to Brussels, with the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs also adding that he had been to Kiev (?) and to Paris to plead Malta's case. Let's all hope that this is a case of better late then never.

The government's policy seems to be one of burden-sharing and of repatriation. We all hope that it succeeds, although the minister admitted honestly enough that "There is still some convincing to do". I personally believe that conviction is a long, long way away. Europe is flooded with migrants to the point of conflict. Nobody wants to have anymore. Even the Pope, a short while back was moved to say, in diplomatic language, that a political solution had to be found.

We are members of the EU and we must start thinking as citizens of the EU, which goes beyond adding and subtracting what money comes in and what money goes out. Migration is posing the EU with an increasingly difficult situation and it is morally bound to find an answer before micro states like Malta are either swamped, with possibly devastating results for the future, or will have to embark on unilateral action.

Since illegal migration is a Europe-wide problem, it should be tackled by the EU as a whole. I suggest that the EU should take the problem to the United Nations with a request to review and update the Dublin Convention. This would free Malta from its present commitment to be responsible for every boatload in its search-and-rescue area; not to mention what is coming through Luqa. This will necessitate many beefed-up delegations prepared to work hard day and night (and not only in summer) for time is definitely not on Malta's side.

After all, as Simon Busuttil said in the same news item: "We are part of the EU and small countries deserve to be shown effective solidarity".