Friday, 27th February 2009
Talking Point
Facing up to a problem (2)
I would like to comment on certain reactions to my article, entitled Facing Up To A Problem (February 23). In it I suggested that, given the present unsustainable situation as regards what even our Prime Minister described as one of our biggest problems, we should start sending illegal immigrants back in the direction they came from while ensuring that every consideration is taken with regard to their wellbeing.
This is practically identical to what is done by the United States of America's Coast Guard in dealing with illegal immigrants coming from Haiti and Cuba. With one important difference: The US sends these immigrants back to their country of origin. We would be directing them towards a country in which many have been living as immigrants for a number of years, working to earn enough money for the shuttle service that is being organised from Libya into Europe practically unchecked by the Libyan authorities. Few of the illegal immigrants are Libyans.
The argument that these people are coming here specifically to escape terror and persecution does not hold water, thus exonerating us from the obligations of the Dublin Convention (article 31). We are simply a link in a chain of criminality that is preying on these individuals' aspirations for a better standard of living in what they consider to be Utopia: Europe.
What will they find when they get here? They will be detained for months on end in conditions that can safely be described as being far from ideal. Work is hard to find and it will become even harder in the coming months, given the global economic situation that is affecting our country. The situation is a time bomb waiting to explode.
UN representatives and Council of Europe officials have been lecturing us over the years about our legal obligations towards these unfortunates. They stress that we should never forget that we must show them solidarity and insist that we should improve their living conditions. I will repeat what I have been saying over the years, even in high-level meetings I had with such officials: We expect the European community and, yes, the United Nations to tackle this problem seriously and not to base itself on conventions that are outdated and which were drawn up when the phenomenon of irregular migration was totally different to what it is today, conventions that were drawn up to handle the situation bona fide refugees find themselves in.
We expect the international community to practise what it preaches and show solidarity itself by sharing the burden. It is obvious that a small country like Malta can't cope with the situation.
Our government and our representatives in Europe have been doing their utmost to appeal for assistance from Europe, to little or no avail. Our Libyan neighbours would seem to be taking Italy, a country that they depend upon for billions of euros in trade, for a ride. Is it surprising that they are ignoring tiny Malta?
I will not deign to answer those who brought up matters that are completely unrelated to the issue in their efforts to shut me up. Even the most naïve of observers must realise what their motives are.
We must act now.
The author is a Nationalist member of Parliament
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Comments
The landing of the last boatload in Birzebbugia isn't a coincidence at all. 1) There were illegal immigrants welcoming the new ones at shore. 2) They claim that they are all from Somalia. Apart from the previous two points, you have to consider that they were all in good healthy condition and there was still food on the boat so another BIG question comes out. Are they really coming from Libya?
Thx to this last arrival and all the questions surrounding it, the parliament may take some action and by action I mean not handing out 5000Euro grants because by doing so, one is encouraging them to come but maybe by placing some EU patrol boats just outside Libyan waters and halting their trip before entering Maltese or Italian waters.
Thank you JPO for being one of the first MP to show you have the guts to tackle a drastic problem in a drastic way.
Please action NOW!
Well said JPO. Though you had done away with your Mistra scandal, at least witht his one you can redempt yourself. Don't let them shut you up.You have the power to speak for us. The other good faithed patriotic parliamentarians should follow your plea...from both sides.
JPO is submitting wrong signals.
For decades, the European Union has been criticizing and lecturing Libya for its Human Rights records. Libya Co. Gadafi is simply testing EU values by sending Human that would like to find their rights in EU. JPO suggestion send wrong signals to EU and equally proving to Gaddafi that EU values are mere slogans, this is of course, unless both EU and JPO got a different definition for humans.
a big well done goes to JeffPullOrlando and again, don`t let the 5% minority disturb your work. if those 5% had to house an illegal in their house would they do it? they are burden for my son`s future.
It is a shame that we have people jumping on the band-wagon of partisan politics mixing this serious propblem by taking a pot shot at the messenger. Unfortunately it will take more than just one solitary MP to get the ball rolling in the direction the Maltese public want. More politicians from both sides have to speak out, so that neither political party can take advantage of these speakers.
Where are you all? Speak out for now is the time to stand up and be counted.
I would like to emphasize on a few points here.
1. All of these illegal immigrants are being fed and paid from our taxes. They do not use this money to help our economy, they save it and send it to their relatives so that they will join them in the future. As a solution I would make them work for their pay in cleaning the streets, or any other job the public works sector is doing. In doing so at least would give the message that Malta is not a free hotel.
2. When Malta entered the E.U. we lost our freedom as a sovereign country. To take decisions seems like having to first ask the E.U. And knowing that our politicians are "Yes" men when facing other European politicians it is in my opinion a lost battle for these people to get what we want from the E.U. I would suggest a peaceful rally where our opinions are shared and our message brought forward.
3. And let's forget our political difference. If we fight among ourselves we are already loosing. I know it is difficult as we all know each other, but let's try for all!
What I can never accept is your idea of towing boat loads of human beings out to
open seas. Irrespective of any convention or other international law human beings
should never be treated in the way you are suggesting. What you are suggesting
is inhuman
As you well know the Libyans will not even allow these people to touch land and
the Italians will send them back to Malta if these human beings ever reach Italian land .
Do you think that it is human to treat these people like this. ?
As a govt.MP I demand from you to be well informed to the least detail and number
of the real situation before coming out with such a suggestion.
My only intention of commenting about this issue is humanitarian. I think you well
know what a human being feels when for any reason others forget all about humanity
to achieve their goals.
For what you are doing...I am Grateful.
The majority of the Maltese have simply had enough. You will find that whoever takes a stand on this issue will be the one elected in the elections. This is the most pressing issue for most of the Maltese, and I'm not taking a shot in the dark here. Thank you for having the courage to speak out.
Thank you for having the guts to address an extremely sensitive issue which the majority of Maltese people are justifiably concerned about, when most others in the party seem to be happy to try sweep it all under the proverbial carpet.
Instead of attacking Dr Pullicino Orlando i think the energy of his colleagues and otherswould be better spent trying to find some way of solving this problem together.
This is not a race thing it's simple mathematics.......We are an already overpopulated island with barely enough space or opportunities for the native population and simply cannot sustain the number of illegal immigrants that constantly arrive.
Azzjoni Nazzjonali lauds your courage to speak out. This is a clear example of country first before partisan politics.
Azzjoni Nazzjonali shares most of the ideas illustrated in your article and will sit with anyone who is serious about solving this issue once and for all. Prevention is better than cure and we’re already very late.
Azzjoni Nazzjonali has tabled a 10 point plan of unilateral action at http://www.azzjoninazzjonali.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1156&Itemid=29
As you can see, there are those who offer solutions and there are those who are irrationally bent at denigrating and ridiculing those who are genuinely concerned about illegal immigration without ever offering any solutions.
Again, well done for your courage.
Best regards,
Wayne Hewitt
Acting General Secretary
Partit Azzjoni Nazzjonali
Well done to Dr. Pullicino Orlando for speaking out.. I'm fed up with this country.. Every time someone dares to speak up with the country's best interests at heart is lynched by some politically-correct fanatics..
Thanks for having the courage to speak in public.
While Malta can and should opt out of conventions, international law remains, and Malta as a community member must always abide by these laws. We now have some 10 to 12 thousand illegal immigrants on Malta. With, say, 50 per boat, one can only imagine how many "safe boats" are going to be needed to re-direct these people back to Libya.
You only need one of these boats to capsize, and Malta would quickly become the world centre of condemnation. The tuna-pen case is more than enough to prove this, especially considering that Malta was totally free of fault in that instant.
And a boat will surely capsize. The illegal immigrants remain under the control of their traffickers, and it would only take one phone-call to make sure that a boat will capsize just to put Malta in a catastrophic legal liability.
Whatever the Maltese people must do, we must do within our own homeland. That way no-one can point an accusing finger at us. On the other hand, if we did nothing, and we allowed this problem to keep encroaching upon us, we would be accused for not having done anything.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be... Quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
Just my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.?..
But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table and next to the barbecue.
Then came the shit. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table... Everywhere!
Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/wetfoot-dryfoot.html
If Libya is against illegal crossings, it should not object and take back those persons who come from its shores. The same applies to Tunisia, if that is the case. What is the EU waiting for to enter into agreements on readmission with these countries as it did with other third countries?
Is Malta bound by the Dublin Convention? Who took care of Malta’s national interests in the Dublin Convention when it entered into force in 1997? Malta’s application was frozen at the time! Are we suffering the consequences of not being at the table when the Dublin Convention was agreed to?
Why cannot we ask the genuine refugees (Article 9) in which EU country they would like their asylum application be considered? Do we know if any of the illegal immigrants have relatives in Europe?
UNHCR has recognized Malta’s difficulties in its assessment of the Dublin Convention - see section 4 (v) below. What has it and EU done about it?
http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/43662b3e2.pdf
Once again, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, thank you, for having the guts to speak out about this huge problem. I hope you and others of the same mind-set will put pressure on the Prime Minister to change his defeatist attitude and act now to end the invasion. He is behaving very irresponsibly by his refusal to act in the national interest.
Stopping the influx of illegal immigrants is not impossible and has been done many times before by other countries. It is imperative that Malta stops accepting illegal immigrants.
I have witnessed first hand the horrors and suffering that internal conflict causes, having lived through the worst of the 'troubles' of Northern Ireland. I would not wish such a situation on anyone, let alone my beloved Malta. This is what will happen if the current situation goes unchecked. Only, it will be far worse for Malta because the island is already overcrowded and to have two very different, incompatible cultures living in such close proximity will be unbearable.
The people who are in favour of illegal immigration have no idea of the unimaginable trouble they are inviting on this country.
There is nothing "fresh" in the measures being proposed by Dr. Pullicino Orlando. It is precisely the National Socialist position of the 1930s.
Are the completely unrelated issues the facts of: 1) JPO and 2) that he's abusing his party's one-seat majority to hijack the PN into silence?
To use his own phrase, let's face facts - if he wasn't enjoying this one-man-holding-parliament-hostage position his unrealistic and impractical article would have simply been ignored by everyone.
... il-Mostin ilhom isofru mill-effetti tal-immigrazzjoni illegali u ilek tisma’ ħafna tgergir fit-toroq, fil-ħwienet u kull fejn jinġabru n-nies tal-Mosta biex jgħidu kelma.
Dan l-aħħar il-problemi kibru u kiber ukoll it-tgergir. L-immigrazzjoni illegali m’għadhiex biss problema fil-Marsa u Birzebbuġa. Saret problema fil-Mosta wkoll. Tant hu hekk li l-familji Mostin saru jibżgħu jafdaw lil uliedhom joħorġu waħidhom. Nisa u tfajliet ukoll saru jibżgħu joħorġu waħidhom. Kif taf, aħna fil-Mosta qatt ma konna f’din is-sitwazzjoni. Il-familji Mostin jinsabu mdejqin u nkwetati ħafna b’din is-sitwazzjoni.
Għalhekk nixtieq nirrakkomandalek li l-Kunsill Lokali tal-Mosta jorganizza proċess ta’ konsultazzjoni pubbliku dwar il-problemi li l-immigranti illegali qed joħolqu fir-raħal tagħna.
Għal dan il-proċess tistiednu lill-Onorevoli Prim Ministru u lill-awtoritajiet oħra. Nissuġġerixxi li nibdew b’dawra fil-Mosta fejn nuru lill-Prim Ministru l-postijiet li joħolqu problemi; inlaqqgħuh man-nies li jixtiequ jitkellmu miegħu, speċjalment man-nisa tad-dar; u nispiċċaw b’dibattitu fis-sala tal-komunita’.
Ignore these people who say you are wrong because they have the interest of immigrants and not of the Maltese. We, the people, 100% agree with you and all those that oppose the takeover of our country. Stand firm, we are with you.
Easy to criticize and utter nice, angelic and saintly words but what the people need here are solutions which make sense, which are reasonable and feasible such as how many of these asylum seekers we can take to make them live like humans. But these have to be quantified as otherwise the "sky is the limit" and we think the people are not ready for that. Just do a VOX POP and you will know or otherwise wait for the outcome of the forthcoming MEP,s elections. People are not imbeciles.
If an ever increasing african population is going to be stuck here cause no one from north or south wants them, than the only solution is at the sea. Many navies, even in europe, uses it.
I surmise that you consider yourself as a "realpolitiker".
What could your practicable strategy and tactics towards Libya be?
There are also "realpolitiker" in other countries, which are facing problems caused by the momentary global economic situation, and these other "realpolitker" are after the votes of their electorate in their respective countries, as your good self is in Malta.
Respective countries would be extremely cautious with respect to sharing Malta's burden. It is moreover possible that many other countries wish good relations with Libya, which relations could be negatively affected, if one attempts to interfere in Libya's policies.
As I dared to suggest in a remark elsewhere, the only solution (a rosy dream) seems to be a geographical relocation/translocation of Malta to another paradise on planet Earth.
Utopia sends its regards and greetings.
Your 'solution' is seriously flawed, to use a current buzzword. For one thing you do not explain how we would force Libya to take the immigrants back; it seems you do not care about this, as long as we get rid of them. Towing them out to the open sea and leaving them to their own resources, as you suggested in your previous article, is hardly "ensuring that every consideration is taken with regard to their wellbeing."
Your main misconception/misinformation is that no immigrants come to us to escape persecution; an irresponsible assertion that "does not hold water". A significant number of these people are in fact granted refugee status by the UN and your pseudo-solution would mean that we refuse to give asylum to those who qualify for protection so that, contrary to your claim, we would be in breach of the Dublin Convention. It is not a question of treaties and conventions however but of common decency: as the PM said, immigrants are not rejects to be taken out of the house like garbage waiting for collection.