Friday, 10th October 2008 - 09:45CET
Immigrant arrivals exceed local birth rate
The Emigrants Commission said today that immigrant arrivals this year, for the first time, exceeded the local birth rate, something which had not taken place anywhere else in the world.
It said in a statement that Malta currently has 40 migrants per square mile - which is more than the number of people in Finland per square mile.
If the burden of irregular migration was to be shared equally among European Union countries on the basis of land mass, Malta would barely get 100 immigrants, the Commission said.
The Commission said that until 2001, 3,153 refugees and other migrants had arrived in Malta, of whom 2,271 were resettled in other countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada.
Such resettlement programmes stopped in 2002 and when the boat cases started, new efforts were embarked upon.
According to information given in Parliament, 28 persons were resettled in Europe and 141 in the United States between 2006 and 2008. The US was planning to take more people from Malta.
A total of 1,686 immigrants came to Malta in 2002, when the boat arrivals started, and since then an average of 1,250 a year continued to arrive.
And although Malta’s size did not grow, the assistance the country used to get for the resettlement of refugees and others who deserved international protection stopped, the commission complained.
For one to understand better the need, if not the duty, of the European Union to help Malta carry the burden of irregular migrants, one only needed to see the population densities of EU countries with the most densely populated - Malta having 3,267 people per square mile followed by the Netherlands - 1,023; and Belgium - 879.
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Comments
At long last, you have explained why you made the omission:
“…who was responsible for setting up the latter body [Commission for Refugees] is completely irrelevant to the effect that this body may have had on illegal migration…”
What you are claiming here is exactly what Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, Dr Tonio Borg and Dr Laurence Gonzi want the Maltese people to continue to believe between now and 2013, just as they had wanted them to believe between 2002 and 2008.
This is not "playing a political game", as you have unjustly accused me of twice. Nor is it about "correcting" other contributors' views, as you take the liberty to do. This is about political accountability in a democratic system, and freely expressing one's concerns through a medium kindly provided by The Times.
It seems that my comments preceeding the ones below were not transmitted or received. In brief, they were that I reject, once again, your claim that I am guilty of any omission. I set out to correct misleading statements, and as far as I am aware, there were none in connection with either the Emigrants Commission or the Commission for Refugeees which needed correction.
Pointing out who was responsible for setting up the latter body is completely irrelevant to the effect that this body may have had on illegal migration, unless that is, one is aimng at scoring points, or in other words, playing a political game.
Further to my earlier comments, which I had to interrupt, I find your description of "bona fide refugees (who) could be resettled" a concocted definition that does not exisit anywhere else. It is such loose thinking which creates confusion and tends to mislead.
Finally, all along I have accepted the figures quoted by the Emigrants Commission and repeated by others, because of the high regard in which I hold the Commission.Besides, I do not have figures at hand for the sake of comparision. As you must be aware, these figures have now been seriously challenged and there has been no answer.
Before I add another comment I await the reply by the Emigrants Commission to these challenges.
In 2002, Malta had a PN government headed by Dr Fenech-Adami. His MoHA was Tonio Borg. Tonio Borg was responsible for the establishment of the Commission for Refugees in 2002.
This is not "playing partisan political games" as you are unfairly claiming. This is what took place in 2002. Fenech-Adami and Tonio Borg were the architects of this Commission which neither the Borg-Olivier nor the Mintoff governments ever contemplated, in the interest of the Maltese people.
Before the Commission was established in 2002, Malta was in a position to assist bona fide refugees. Bona fide in the sense that they could be resettled.
Following the establishment of the Commission in 2002, the "boat cases started" while the "resettlement programmes stopped". The result was that for six consecutive years since 2002, Malta accumulated thousands of illegal immigrants that, on the one hand, cannot be resettled while on the other, the Gonzi government has not repatriated.
In each of your comments you systematically omitted this very obvious and important connection between the establishment of the Commission for Refugees in 2002 and the accumulation of illegal immigrants that followed immediately afterward. Why the omission?
Your dragging in the Nationalist Party reflects on your approach to this problem. I am not playing partisan political games.
In my contributions I have criticised this government, although you may not have noticed this because of some blinkers which came in the way.
I also said that one cannot exclude some link between the changing of the guard at theMalta end on how we treated the problem of illegal migration, and what we are facing now. You also missed this.
What exactly is your agenda?
I am not going to engage in a comparision of the work of the Emigrants Commission and the Commission for Refugeees, because the nature of the problem may not be quite the same. For exanple, the 3,153 dealt with by the Emigrants Commission may have been the type, in their majority, for whom resettlement in the USA, Canada and Australia may have been easier.
"...it fueled racist sentiments;.."
The problem of racism and irregular immigrants are 2 distinctive problems and should be tackled separately. Treating them as if they were the same problem is what really fuel racism.
Yes, we all shall be cautious in what we say, and this especially applies to politicians etc. But NOT by hiding the truth, but by saying all the truth i.e.:
1) We are one of the most burdened country in the world, and this is clearly unfair and must be solved. We should give refuge to a number of people that is PROPORTIONAL to our country's special circumstances. We should help to integrate them in our society, but if this number is too big, our society will not be able to digest it.
2) All human beings are different in one way or another to all others, but we are all the same in what makes us human beings i.e. the human dignity. Some of these differences are significant: sexual orientation, race, beliefs etc So what? Imagine for example that my mother is short,ugly and not very intelligent, would that make my mother any less human being? NO.
"The statement of the Emigrants' Commission was pointless because..."
I don't think it is POINTless, I think the commission's point was that we have now gone beyond any reasonable limit. Charity is a wonderful virtue. But charity is not charity if it doesn't come from the heart. Maltese people feel abused, and USED by the EU as if Malta was EU's breakwater agaisnt the waves of irregular immigrants.
"we want our Children...to keep a Maltese Identity!"
What is wrong with that? Aren't we all proud of our maltese identity? And WHO are YOU or ME to judge if keeping a maltese identity is good or wrong? We are living in a democratic country -where the people's will is sovereign-, and I think that the maltese people have a right to decide what they want or don't want for themselves and their country. This -roqgha art- is not just our country, it is our HOME. Hence we are over-protective.
“replaced by third world immigrants and mixed-race populations”
I think that they consider multiculturalism as good as a mixutre of milk-and-peach-juice in the same glass. WHO are we to impose it against their democratic will?
It is not what I say that counts, as you are unfairly claiming.
It is what the PN government did in 2002 that counts, and which was immediately followed by the events to which the Emigrants Commission is referring:
“Such resettlement programmes stopped in 2002 and when the boat cases started, …”
What started the “boat cases” in 2002?
You gave a long list in your first comment in which you exonerated the PN government from any fault for the large influx of illegal immigration into Malta that started in 2002.
In your list you omitted what is clearly the most important fact, namely, that the PN government established the Commission for Refugees in 2002.
You still have not explained why you made this omission, considering that the connection between the Commission for Refugees established by the PN government in 2002 and the “boat cases” starting in 2002 is so glaringly obvious.
I find your remarks completely unrelated to what I have written, and I do not see why I should follow your train of thought. Before I made my comments on certain aspects of the illegal migrartion that we are facing I wrote:
"Some comments being made are misleading at best". As far as I am aware no misleading comment has, or had, been made about the Commission for Refugees, and therefore I made no reference to it. What is strage about that?
At the same time I cannot agree with your assessment that the ONLY THING THAT COUNTS is what you say. The experience of Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, which has nothing to do with whatever happened in Malta, clearly shows this. To imply that the present flow of illegal migration across the Mediterranean has anything to do with the establishment of the Commission of Refugees in Malta, or that this Commission is to blame that the rate of resettlement is not coping with this massive influx, which Malta never experienced before, is simply ridiculous.
Michelle Dali
I fully agree with you 200%. Immigrants should reach Europe in safe way.
Here we should ask, would Africa allow Brain-Drain? Would LEGAL immigrants be accepted and fully integrate among EU population? Would they enjoy equal rights including political rights as EU citizens? In my view if we fail to do so, we would end up having a democratic deficit.
Europe has been lecturing all African countries about democracy. It would only be logic that any legal immigrants (none EU citizen), a tax payer lives legally for say, 5 years in any EU country to automatically have the right to VOTE. Failing to do some would again create a democracy deficit; doing so, would mean having the future of any EU government at the hands of immigrants. The issue is very complicated indeed.
I too, don’t expect any EU country would take some irregular immigrants of what we have. The core problem is, would any government from EU accept LEGAL IMMIGRANTS from Africa? In my view, any government does that lose popularity and would give golden opportunities to far-right parties.
"What are you trying to say? The beneficiaries of protection for humanitarian reasons (I assume that is what you mean) are regular immigrants."
You REALLY don't know who are the beneficiaries of international protection?! Evidently you haven't read this article: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081001/local/immigration-pact-of-great-benefit-for-malta-minister
Anyway, according to Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici the 'beneficiaries of international protection' are the refugees and those granted humanitarian protection. And by regular immigrants I meant normal migrants, like for example an italian citizen who decides to come to live in Malta or vice versa without asking for refugee status or humanitarian protection. Was I crystal-clear this time my dear Mr Vella?
If the Europe wants to fill its population deficit it should do it the time honoured way - have more children. If the Europeans are not able to do this because of financial burdens imposed upon them by incompetent governments, then they need to topple those governments without further ado. If they are not willing to do so because they are enjoying their cosy lifestyle without a care in the world, then they deserve extinction, which is indeed the way they are heading right now.
The statement of the Emigrants' Commission was pointless because it simply repeated the official statistics and did not add anything new. Moreover, it fueled racist sentiments; the Times journalist who interviewed Mons Calleja referred to this aspect but the answer was evasive.
The Emigrants' Commission should have stated clearly what kind of problems it was talking about. No one has ever denied that the influx of a large number of immigrants presents a logistic challenge but this is not what terrifies racists.
Looking at the comments on this page, some are objecting to the presence of black people because "We will definitely end up outnumbered by them and they will rule us." and "we want our Children and their Chidren to keep a Maltese Identity!"
According to racists, we of the “white west” are being “squeezed” and “replaced by third world immigrants and mixed-race populations” and therefore “Maltese society.....is doomed”
Do you honestly believe that this is what the Emigrants' Commission meant? That Malta is doomed because of immigration? The Emigrants' Commission should have explained itself better to avoid its words becoming tools for racists.
'Has any body suggested how the EU should fill the population deficit of old Europe?'
The answer to your question is simple. The EU would set up job centres in African countries where people could apply for jobs in a civilized manner and, if accepted, they could be helped with travel expenses, etc to go and settle in the EU country of their choice.
You seem to think that the EU is encouraging people to cross deserts and pay human traffickers to get them into rickety boats on the open sea because they need to fill a population deficit. What a ridiculous idea - risking people's lives so that if, by a stroke of luck, they survived the journey, then Europe could use their manpower! Don't you think that would be a very barbaric and uncivilized way of filling a population deficit?
If, as you say, the EU has a population deficit why don't they simply come to Malta and take a few thousand of the illegal immigrants living here? The answer to that question is this: they don't want illegal immigrants. The proof of that is the fact that no country has volunteered to take any.
I can find no explanation in your reply as to why you ignored the establishment of the Commission for Refugees by the current administration in Malta in 2002. A person in your capacity will have known fully the significance of this fact. Yet you left it out of your list in your first "contribution" and gave no explanation for the omission in your second contribution.
""Could it be that you forgot that we are talking about beneficiaries of international protection and not regular immigrants?!!" "
What are you trying to say? The beneficiaries of protection for humanitarian reasons (I assume that is what you mean) are regular immigrants.
It's okay, ask the question in Maltese if it's easier for you.
Regarding burden sharing relative to land area or population, I think it is obvious that since malta is already over populated (highest pop density in the EU and 7th in the world) it would be fair -at least for Malta- to be relative to land area and not population. Would you now please answer the question I had made to you: "Could it be that you forgot that we are talking about beneficiaries of international protection and not regular immigrants?!!"
On the contrary I did answer your other question here: http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs/view/20081005/andrew-borg-cardona/abject-apologies
@ Mario Borg
Another comment with a touch of prudence. Thank you
@Joseph Micallef
‘Are we all missing the issue here? This is not about too many immigrants but it’s about very few births from Maltese families! ‘
I say it again your comment, and of @ Mario Borg are the most factual among all.
As you can see, many others have been complaining, pointing fingers and bad-mouth every body. This of course including: UN, UNHCR, EU, Church, NGO’s, Libya, Dr. Gonzi, Dr. Bonnici, Dr. Busuttil, opposition leader, and above all, the immigrants them selves (convenient scapegoats for and present and future negative developments). Has any body suggested how the EU should fill the population deficit of old Europe?
I mean providing a suggestion not talking spaghettis.
From many of the comments below the problem is being attributed solely to illegal immigration but in fact there are two problems if not more. As usual we Maltese tend to polarize matters. Remember there may be a good and a bad but also two of a kind.
Although one cannot exclude the possibility of a link between the 'changing of the guard' in Malta on the modalities of dealing with illegal immigrants, one should not arrive at hasty conclusions, such as "this is the only thing that counts". I have experienced the phenomenon of massive illegal migration by boats when I was ambassador in Spain, Athens and Nicosia, and I find it difficult to accept an "only thing that counts".
My contribution was meant to thank the Emigrants Commission for their study, which should have been carried out, and made known to the public, by government, and to counter misleading comments.
"The Emigrants Commission in particular and the Maltese Church in general have consistently mishandled the issue, first by ignoring the growth of racism among the so-called Catholic population and now by issuing a pointless statement that will not impress the EU..."
It did IMPRESS US!!
"...have consistently mishandled the issue...by issuing a pointless statement..."
ARE YOU SAYING THAT the Emigrants commission SHOULD NOT HAVE TOLD US THE TRUTH???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM SHOCKED!!!!!!
It is Mons Calleja's opinion that immigrants should be distributed according to land surface. If the EU Council of Ministers decided that they have to be distributed according to population (i.e. so many immigrants per 1000 locals) then Mons Calleja's contention would fall.
If you checked the link I included in my post you'll have noticed that the EU Statistics Office seems to give more importance to number of immigrants in relation to the population rather than to the size of the country.
Whether, one likes it or not therefore, mandatory burden-sharing would mean that every country, including Malta, would have to abide by the collective decision of the Council of Ministers.
While we respect our nation and the fact that this is a national issue we also need to check figures out and not just take them in like a 'mazzun' a simple search we point out that these numbers do not make any sense at all.
Some club we've joined. 28 PERSONS IN 2 YEARS!! They're VERY good at busting us regarding Spring Hunting, the privatisation of the Drydocks, Natura this that and the other, etc etc. Illegal Immigration? At the bottom of the EU's Agenda........if it's even there at all.
"If the burden of irregular migration was to be shared equally among European Union countries on the basis of land mass, Malta would barely get 100 immigrants,"
You told me here:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081006/local/immigration-pact-is-plan-of-action-pm
That with compulsory burden sharing we would take irregular migrants from others in spite of my clear explanation that since Malta was one of the most burdened country in the world, we would never take migrants from other countries. Could it be that you forgot that we are talking about beneficiaries of international protection and not regular immigrants?!!
The people's concerns have been suppressed for fear of being unjustly labeled racist, xenophobic and the like. But now it is clear who was right and who was not quite right.
You omitted the only thing that counts, namely, the setting up of the Commission for Refugees in 2002.
The Emigrants Commission said:
"Such resettlement programmes stopped in 2002 and when the boat cases started, ..."
No one can deny the connection between the setting up of the Commission for Refugees in 2002 (cause) and the "boat cases" that started immediately afterward (effect).
Yet you made the omission.
Also, just an idea, why don't you establish a camp for these refugees at Marsaxlokk, next to the water. This will be a great opportunity for these illigals to move on to Sicily.
I agree that the management of immigration should be taken away from the hands of the Church. The Emigrants Commission in particular and the Maltese Church in general have consistently mishandled the issue, first by ignoring the growth of racism among the so-called Catholic population and now by issuing a pointless statement that will not impress the EU but will fuel the sick imagination of the more insecure and immature elements of our society.
Reading the comments on this page gives me the impression of bursting into a poultry house and panicking all the chickens, causing them to flap around excitedly, squawking and screeching their indignation.
Maybe the other eu countries need immigrants, though I doubt it, but we certainly do not.
"The Commission said that until 2001, 3,153 refugees and other migrants had arrived in Malta, of whom 2,271 were resettled in other countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada."
This means that 882 remained here.
Since around 11,500 ILLEGAL immigrants came here since 2002 and only a few were repatriated, that means that we have more than 12,000 immigrants including those 882 in one of the most populated countries in the world.
This is apart from destroying the wages and working conditions of Maltese workers and the heavy financial burden on our taxes which we have to pay through our noses for their upkeep.
Repatriation, not integration, MUST be the policy strictly applied.
@M. Mercieca. Here is an excerpt from the paper " Reassessing Immigration Policy" issued by the Frasier Institute
"the speakers also discussed the alleged benefits of immigration, which do not stand up to close examination. For example, though employers benefit when vacant jobs are filled by immigrants, this reduces the incomes of workers and increases poverty.
In addition, when these immigrants spend their earnings, the number of job vacancies may increase rather than decrease because they add to the existing demand for goods and services and often force governments to spend more on the expansion of infrastructure facilities. A number of the papers that discussed labour markets in detail showed mass immigration to be almost universally detrimental to the interests of workers."
If one of us falls unemployed and a member of our household is on social you will get around 20 Euro a month extra. Whilst illegal immigrants are supplied with much more.
Stating facts for those who do not allow others to have a different opinion is not being racist. Stop using racism to shut people up.
Things have got out of hand and no one wants to do anything about it. The situation is pitiful.
@M. Mercieca. Brilliant! How about defending the Human Rights of your fellow Maltese for a change
The facts about the population statistics that you are so fond of quoting are nothing but lies; in fact the greatest danger to the world is overpopulation.
All that immigration into Europe is designed to do is to make the wealthy richer and reduce the middle classes to poverty.
The ideal world for these manipulators and the hidden agenda that they are keeping from you is to make everywhere like South America, with a majority population composed of a mixture of races, the sub-race, ruled by the Elite White overlords, who travel about in helicopters so as not to make contact with the dregs of humanity that they have created, as they struggle in search of food in the garbage heaps around their shanty towns.
You wish to be an Activist and champion for third world countries? Start with the same EU that are providing you with these bogus statistics. It was their colonies and now their multinationals that are the root-cause of most of the poverty in Africa .
Whoever tries to set up a new party will be called a racist by the establishment.
It happens all over europe, and it happens here as well.
Gonzi won't do a thing ala berlusconi.
He is a socialist who happened to be in the PN.
Pn now cannot be considered any longer a right wing party. It is a center left government.
Like it or not probably the MLP after AN are the most center right wing party.
Another case of only in Malta
"Am I correct in concluding that John Betts is a guest here? .....either send them to larger countries (probably to the one Mr Betts comes from - but I stand to be corrected on this) or else as I suggested earlier."
Incorrect, I'm afraid - I am Maltese, and was born and have always lived here - sending them to 'the one' (country) I come from would mean keeping them here. Unless perhaps you work back to great great great grandad, who was an immigrant from the UK.
Why do you persist in quoting debunked myths?
Europe does not need African immigrants. You can rest assured that if it did, they would take them all off us. But it is not going to happen. They do not want them.
The birthrate can easily be boosted. If the funds being spent on problems created by immigrants (especially illegal ones) were used to incentivize indegenous Europeans to have more babies, that problem would be solved.
The government's action might be in harmony with what the EU wants, namely that Malta serves as a mega detention centre........
to defend UK savers. This is not about MLP AD or PN it is about us. Wake UP!
Everyone is fed up now, this serious issue must be tackled. What is your government waiting for?????
Well, well.... Is this enough for those who do not see a problem with illegal migration? Or do we have to go to the point of no return before you wake-up??
And to those who are always accusing others of racism...Is this news about racism too?
THESE ARE FACTS NOT RACISM!!
So wake-up and use your vote wisely in the next MEP elections.
Wake-up and use your vote
According to your reasoning, the other 26 EU countries will be falling over themselves to take the illegal immigrants we have in Malta because they have such a terrible population deficit. Malta, on the other hand, does not have such a deficit but is, in fact, grossly OVERPOPULATED for its size.
Let us hope you are right....
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The goverment doesn't care! it's not Gonzi's problem, he still gets his pay, he doesn't live in Marsa, it's yours! so learn how to live with it!
‘Are we all missing the issue here? This is not about too many immigrants but its about very few births from Maltese families!‘
Practically your comment is the most important among all, and the EU (including Malta) is acting accordingly irrelevant of the hysteria some ‘patriots’ creating.
EU population getting dangerously old
Beyond just ageing, the bloc's population will be decreasing as well.
By 2015, the number of deaths will exceed the number of births in the EU, with immigration becoming the only factor boosting the bloc's population, the survey says.
After an initial increase from 495 million currently to 521 million in 2035, the total population in the EU's 27 member states will again drop to 506 million in 2060.
The population of Bulgaria is to shrink the most (28%), followed by Baltic countries Latvia (26%) and Lithuania (24%), as well as Romania (21%) and Poland (18%).
http://euobserver.com/9/26645/?rk=1
Personally, I endorse the RESPONSIBLE action taken by our government as it goes in harmony with EU strategy to cure population deficit.
Who knows, may be our ‘patriots’ they use the above static’s to add more fuel, hoping to fill 1 Ballot box coming June.
Such resettlement programmes stopped in 2002 and when the boat cases started, new efforts were embarked upon."
The above statement proves (not that proof is needed) that no country is willing to resettle Africans on its territory.
The pre-boat arrival refugees were mostly from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. People who were displaced by wars brought about by multicultural friction in countries like Serbia and Bosnia.
What is the government of Malta waiting for to take drastic steps to protect its country and its citizens!
I am NOT a racist and I do feel sorry for these people, but we will be feeling sorry for ourselves before long if something isn't done about this situation NOW.
So let's see you encouraging the Government to turn the illegal immigrants around and not allow a single one to remain in Malta.
Let's see you promote the slogan "Repatriation, not Integration".
The solution is not to send them to Europe but to turn them back towards Libya. Sending them to Europe will only increase their numbers. When Spain had problems in Melilla they stood their ground and the immigrants stopped trying to go over the wall. Until we make a stand and stop accepting migrants the problems will increase.
The Emigrants Commission, located right under the gaze of Dr Gonzi at Castile, is very much the perpetrator of this dire situation. All this report is saying is that we have caused a problem, but unfortunately we are not succeeding in exporting this problem as best as we would like.
We are glad to have brought in all the illegal immigrants, but the EU is not doing its "duty" and take all these illegals so more of them can keep coming.
The guys at this commission are never going to understand that nobody wants these illegals, and Dr Gonzi is going to have to tell the Maltese people (sooner or later) what is he going to do with them. He has at least four years to do it, so apparently he is not too much in a hurry.
@ Sandro Pace
You didn't take it seriously....that bit about the drydocks?
Besides the illegal immigrant arrivals, on one hand we have the Maltese females which are bearing less children, and on the other hand we have the African females who bear at least 3 children each. You do the math now and someone please explain to me how come our Goverment, the same one that swore to serve and protect this nation, has done nothing so far to protect the future of this country.
It's a sign that they are pleased with the way Gonzi and Mifsud Bonnici are dealing (or not dealing) with the problem.
That in itself is worrying, because the vast majority of the Maltese people strongly disagree with the NGOs.
Gonzi and Mifsud Bonnici keep blaming international obligations. But they are lawyers. We have a bunch of lawyers in government. They have been trained to protect rights.
Can't they summon enough political will (in other words, guts) to fight for Malta's rights?
Can't they stand up for Malta's rights?
Do they have always to take a supine position and meekly speak of Malta's obligations?
In view of the fact that one of justifications put forward by the pro-immigration camp is that western countries need immigration from the third world due to falling birth rates, I think the comments are fully justified.
To put it simply, the Maltese cannot afford to have children because of the ridiculous tax/inflation rates they are forced to put up with. At the same time the authorities permit unchecked immigration to go on, use the social security contributions of the Maltese for the immigrants' upkeep and then justifies it all by assuring us that we need the immigrants to pay social security contributions to make up for our falling birth rates!
That being said, some comments being made seem to be misleading, at best.
Illegal migration did not start with Malta's membership of the EU.
Malta's international obligations in its SAR zone have nothing to do with our EU membership.
Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus. have not been able to stem the waves of illegal migration they are facing. Why should government be exclusively blamed for that in Malta?
Italy declared a state of emergency. So what? Did it reduce or solve the problem?
Will the Pact make our plight worse or better? At the moment one can only speculate.
Will not signing the Pact reduce illegal migration by one single person? No.
Rather than flaunting anti-EU bias, blaming government gratuitously, making irresponsible proposals and uttering inflammatory language, let us all back government, which we expect to be stronger in its dealings with the EU and Libya on this issue.
So now, in this overcrowded rock, the birth rate should start competing with the influx.
In a country with the least living space compared to anywhere else, some people still think that this is not a problem.
And fortunately, the government has other plans for the dockyard area.
Many readers seem to have missed the real point of this report. This Church backed, self-appointed Commission is not complaining about the number of illegal immigrants. It is complaining that it is not being given more "assistance" (read: funds, money, cash.)
"And although Malta’s size did not grow, the assistance the country used to get for the resettlement of refugees and others who deserved international protection stopped, the commission complained."
burden sharing : means Malta is now a more attractive destination for Illegal imigrants : it is now worth reaching Malta : and what happens to the ones that are NOT burden shared : how much are we left with on a yearly basis after this so called burden sharing?: time we stop this invasion and not share it !!
Sharing means dividing what one has, we are now at the multiplication stage, what do we divide????
The well known charitable Maltese have now become the beggars themselves, only that there is no one listening to them.
this is seriously scary.
The socio demographic factors are the most obvious indicators that the very nature of the white west including Malta is rapidly changing. It is becoming more violent, it is becoming poorer, and it is becoming more anti European.
This is directly linked to the decline of the European people who originally made up the western society and their replacement by newcomers foreign to our culture and civilization.
There are 4 ways through which a nation's population can vanish:
1. through obliteration in war.
2. Through their lands being swamped by labor-driven immigration.
3. Through physical mixing with newcomers,
4 A decreasing birth rate amongst the original ethnic population.
The prospects for the future of western civilization are bleak. As it is happening in Europe mainland we will be increasingly squeezed out of our towns & cities, replaced by third world immigrants and mixed-race populations. And it seems that in Brussels this is just only a fragment of interest!
After all the worse to be hit by this situation are the workers.
What Gonzi is doing to the country should never be forgotten
Brussels must respect the fact that Malta being a small island nation can only accept so many refugees, and a quota or ceiling should be made on what is realistically acceptable.
This should then be endorsed in the recently discussed EU immigration pact.
Any refugees above our quota will be transferred to an EU holding centre, and it will be up to Brussels who will then have the responsibility of finding them a country to settle in.
For example, if our quota is 1000, and we are presently holding 5000, then by rights we should be able to transfer 4000. (With the EU footing the bill.)
Of course if Ghadaffi took a stronger stance, then we wouldn’t have this problem.
“As for compulsory burden-sharing, Dr Gonzi said one should be careful, lest Malta itself was required to take migrants from other countries which had seen a steep increase in migrants.”
The Emigrants Commission:
If the burden of irregular migration was to be shared equally among European Union countries on the basis of land mass, Malta would BARELY GET 100 IMMIGRANTS, the Commission said.
No more rides please!!!!!
I don´t know where you got the 22 months from because it's another 4 years till the next elections. But anyway, replacing the spineless government by the opposition tomorrow will not help because the Labour Party has not taken a stand against illegal immigration either. It is we the people who have to wake up and fight for our rights because our politicians evidently aren't capable of doing it.
Now that the stark reality of the illegal immigration problem has been made so glaringly obvious with these statistics, it's about time we took to the streets to protest.
Malta has always been conquered by outsiders and it will happen again not even 50 years after our independence if we let it through inaction.
I agree with you Christine. And Frontex should be used to assist them in their journey back. And Once the human traffickers get to know that it is useless to bring them to Malta they would take their illegal business elsewhere.
After all Africa is a huge continent 3 times bigger than Europe and composed of over 50 countries. Why try to pack all african migrants into tiny Malta - 7th most overcrowded country in the world - when they could just migrate to another African country? After all, not all african countries are experiencing wars etc.
I reiterate my plea for a proper national body involving civil society rather than the Emigrants commission to tackle the issue from the pragmatic, ethical, comprehensive and forward thinking perspective. I again suggest that Professor Henry Frendo be invited to give his valid input by chairing it. I will not begrudge any tax payers' euro spent on such a project.
Mega Detention Centre.
Knowing full well how many do not survive a crossing? That is callous.
Yes re-direct them, but of course to Africa not to Europe. If we re-direct them to Europe we will be playing their game. They want simply this ............................
At this rate, the Maltese population will be in a minority and will be dictated by the immigrants.
Can somebody in a boat which can host max 100 people host 1000.......that is what Malta our country is undergoing!
I totally agree with your statement
Gonzi..tock tock it's time to wake up.
The EU should increase pressure on the northern African countries like Libya so that such people are sent back.
This has to STOP before we Maltese are driven out of our beloved country and become immigrants ourselves.
and how important it is for immediate action to be taken
if we want our Children and their Chidren to keep a Maltese Identity !
This reinforces what I have been saying lately i.e. that Malta is one of most burdened country in the whole world (if not the MOST one). When you calculate this burden, you don't just take into account the number of these people but the number of these people per square km or per pop.
"If the burden of irregular migration was to be shared equally among European Union countries on the basis of land mass, Malta would barely get 100 immigrants, the Commission said."
And then there was some who said that with compulsory burden sharing we would take irregular migrants from others!!! Did you read that Mr Antoine Vella (Balzan)?
If nothing is done and all immigrants are kept in Malta, we Maltese people will loose our Identity and all our land. Hope the burden sharing will work.
Or have we now noticed that the people will not be hoodwinked any more? Will anybody from the Immigrants Commission be present at the demonstration planned for Thursday evening in Valletta to oppose the un-democratic signing of the EU Immigration Pact by Dr Gonzi without having consulted the people? A pact which will exacerbate the problem when thousand more Africans will be coming to Malta to "be reuinited with their families"?
Hardly surprising. And what is the government doing about it? Why hasn´t a state of emergency been declared? Italy declared a state of emergency over a couple of hundred arrivals last summer. What are we waiting for to suspend international treaties about the matter and repatriate these illegals? Do these figures include the many hundreds coming here on tourist visas and overstaying, working illegally on the streets and elsewhere?
Does our government think that this situation is sustainable? Or is the government going after the immigrant vote now that it´s official that we have more illegals than births in the country?