A document on the way forward on illegal immigration, prepared by Malta, Cyprus, Italy and Greece, is being discussed at a meeting of EU Home Affairs Ministers in Prague today.

The four countries earlier this week had insisted with the Czech EU presidency that the document should be discussed, and immigration has to remain on the EU agenda.

The document was discussed by the ministers from the four countries - known as the Quadro Group - in Rome last Tuesday.

The ministers called for effective implementation of the Immigration Act , readmission agreements with countries of transit for illegal migrants, the establishment of better mechanisms for the repatriation for such migrants, the strengthening of Frontex border patrols and the creation of the burden-sharing mechanisms mentioned in the Pact.

Intervening during this morning’s debate, Home Affairs Minister Mifsud Bonnici insisted that migration was a problem of the Union as a whole and was not limited to the Mediterranean EU states.

"Malta will relentlessly pursue the implementation of what had been agreed to in the Pact for Immigration and Asylum in the shortest time possible,” the minister said.

In a comment to the press, the French Minister of the Interior, Overseas France and Territorial Communities, Michèle Alliot-Marie expressed France’s openness for the Quadro group’s document. The text also attracted a positive reaction from Spain and was generally well-received by most EU member states.

The Czech Presidency said it has agreed to draft a set of concrete measures based on the Quadro document. The measures would then be discussed during the Council meeting to be held next month in Brussels.

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