Nine Sudanese repatriated under voluntary scheme

Nine Sudanese immigrants who had landed in Malta in search of a better life yesterday boarded a plane back to their homeland in renewed hope of making something of themselves in their own country.

Lured by an offer of €5,000, the men chose to take up a voluntary repatriation scheme and return to Sudan during the second phase of the DAR project, which is co-funded by the EU.

As he checked in at the airport, Jamal Margy's eyes welled up with tears thinking about being reunited with all his relatives.

He had left them behind when, in an attempt to change his luck, he took a leap in the dark and boarded a crammed boat that landed him in Malta about four years ago.

"We left our country to try and find better lives for ourselves... But when we came, Malta became like one big prison," he said as some of his friends nodded in approval.

"Now we chose to go back to try and help ourselves and our families," he said.

Mr Margy and the other eight Sudanese were the first group of immigrants to participate in the second phase of the voluntary repatriation scheme that is expected to repatriate 37 people by the end of this month.

During last year's first phase, 71 immigrants chose to return to their homeland, settle down and try to set up their own businesses with the €5,000 given to them.

Foreign Affairs Ministry Tonio Borg has termed the voluntary repatriation programme as a partial solution to the country's enormous immigration problem.

Speaking during a seminar last month, Dr Borg explained that voluntary repatriation programmes are cheaper than forced repatriation, under which each immigrant has to be accompanied by two security guards.

This form of repatriation was very difficult and it was extremely rare for a country to accept immigrants from other countries.