Tuesday, 21st April 2009 - 16:56CET
Malta-Italy in angry exchange over migrants
“If there is anyone who expects Malta to take illegal immigrants that are his responsibility, he can forget it” - Mifsud Bonnici
Migrants on a Maltese patrol boat after rescue.
Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici has reacted strongly to comments reported to have been made by Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni about Malta sending migrants to Italy.
The Italian minister claimed that a dossier showed that 40,000 migrants ended up in Italy because Malta did not intervene in some 600 cases.
“Mr Maroni can prepare as many dossiers as he likes. We are small and it’s very easy to perform an audit of what we’ve done in this case. But other larger countries should be subject to the same audits that we are subjected to,” Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
“If there is anyone who expects Malta to take illegal immigrants that are his responsibility, he can forget it,” the minister said.
The exchange followed a spat between the two countries after a Turkish-owned freighter picked up 140 migrants off Lampedusa on Thursday. Both Italy and Malta had refused entry to the ship. Italy said the rescue was made in Malta’s Search and Rescue Zone and the migrants should therefore be taken to Malta.
Malta said that in terms of international conventions, the migrants had to be taken to the nearest port, and its obligation was to coordinate rescue within the SAR zone.
The migrants were eventually landed in Sicily after Italy relented “for humanitarian reasons”.
“ How does anyone expect to change this overnight with 140 people are stranded on a ship just outside Lampedusa?” Dr Mifsud Bonnici asked.
He also denied that Malta had sent migrants to Italy.
“These persons leave from Libya and not Malta and none of those who have come to Malta intended to come here. Their final destination was always Italy.
“All boats have a right of innocent passage on the high seas, irrelevant of which country is responsible for the search and rescue area. There have been no instances of boats coming to Malta and then proceeding to Italy. The boats use this right of innocent passage and proceed to Lampedusa, Malta or directly to Sicily. The Maltese government has no authority to stop them from doing this. International maritime laws forbid this,” Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
He pointed out that Malta was involved in 380 operations in the past year and the number of illegal immigrants arriving here had almost doubled in a year.
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Comments
In this case you have clearly made up for your past lapses and soft approach to the problem of ILLEGAL immigration.
Well done. and hold fast for the next one, and the next. You need to tell the EU we will take no further crap from them on this issue!
WE ARE WELL AND TRULY FULL UP!
Mr Maroni should be encouraged to and indeed assisted by the maltese authorities in presenting this situation to the EU as it is in both our national interests to do so.
I also urge Mr. Maroni to act his position of Minister and before opening his mouth to make some statement which can effect the relationship between two very close friends like Italy and Malta, he should get the facts, indeed all the facts right before saying something, and if he has no time to check things out himself, I am sure that he has enough staff within his ministry to do so.
Sig. Ministro Maroni, fate la cosa giusta e dite la verita' ai giornalisti che potranno rapportare la verita' e non sballate dando l'impressione che noi siamo i Vs nemici non i Vs cugini. Lei, come il Ns ministro avete l'obbligo di mantenere le ottime relazioni tra di noi e non rovinarli.
Are you serious? So your fellow Maltese are BAD and illegal immigrants are GOOD?
You do not classify with the good, I'm afraid. You are very welcome to leave Malta by the boats and go wherever you want to. Then you will be able to integrate with whomever you want to in their own countries. Seeing as the Maltese majority is "bad", why don't you leave us bad ones here and you leave. Nothing's stopping you, believe me. Not wanting to protect your country doesn't make you good.
Wishful thinking mate!
Not denying that Italy has helped Malta a lot, but bear in mind that the Italian protocol was signed as compensation because we were buying much more from Italy than Italy was buying from us. In other words, the protocol was to compensate for the difference in trade between the two countries and it was benefiting Italy as much if not more than Malta.
Re dealing with other countries, you need both brains and brawns because what good is it if you have a lot of rights but you cannot enforce them?
If you want to integrate with the Africans, it's very easy- just get the first plane and fly to Somalia. You will finally be at your home. But this is our home and here shall we stay, and it's our right to defend it .....
You need a reality check. Immigrants are heavily overrepresented in the prison population and in crime statistics. Just look at the PQ's coming out of parliament..
But then you may consider having more drug pushers, rapists and other assorted criminals a good thing. I don't.
His superflous and continuos sensless comments shows how much he is short of knowledge when it comes to international laws and agreements.
However one should have alook at the Italians press coverage of this saga and the way is has been twisteed and mangled to make it seem an act of humanitarian aid from their end.
Sig. Maroni, Italy took them in simply because it is oblidged to take them, only trouble is
you blabbed to early.
Thanks to Barroso Sig. Maroni had saved some face- now he has completely lost it.
Exactly, you are branding your fellow countrymen bad and these immigrants good. You prefer to see the Maltese leave their country to make way for illegal immigrants. Same thing!
I think the migrants who reached our shores by sheer determination , risking their very own lives in doing so , deserve to be Maltese even more than yourself and myself. I say reward their enterprise. This is the kind of people we need in such an economic climate, rather than the generally spoilt younger generation that we are now stuck with. Not much prospect of raiding our GDP there! So you were born here? Big deal. What part did you exactly play in that decision?
In time, they will buy property, pay stamp duty, etc.
There are millions of euros to be made. We should be fighting to get more illegal immigrants.
But in Malta we always do the reverse. NOW DON'T SHOOT ME LIKE YOU ALL DID LAST TIME (because I will never write again). Thankyou.
U INT SUR CARM KIF TIPPRETENDI LI JIEHDULEK L-IMMIGRANTI LLEGALI B'MOD VOLONTARJU META LANQAS BID-DRITT U SKOND IL-LIGI MA JRIDU JOHDUHOM!!
who said I didn't love my country, at least as much as you do?
Thats exactly why I say "out with the bad and in with the good".
To Mr. Maroni - How disgraceful to target a miniscule nation by pure bullying, is this the best you can do as a politician?? vergonia
You have all our support Dr Carm. Keep up your good work. You have shown our neighbours and European counterparts that we mean business in such matter. All the EU states should help - This is surely not the problem of Italy & Malta alone because they happen to be the EU border countries with Africa!
May God help us and the Africans who are trying to find a better living in Europe!
How dare you call yourself Maltese! If you are ready to give up your country, well I'm not.
By its action our Government has shown one and all that we are no push-overs. We have stood our ground and come what may we will stand it over and over again.
You do not have the slightest idea about the present situation. The only legal action is to send them back to Libya, et al. Illegal is always illegal. You can buy a large tract of land in North Africa and open a colony. Do not forget that the Africans claim that "Africa is for the Africans" Therefore Europe is for the Europeans. The Africans have caused their own problems. They never bothered to learn during the colonialisation period. There are to many feuds between tribes. Africa is a rich country if properly managed. The worse part is that these illegal person want to live in Europe but still use their obsolete customs instead of learning.
If I am not mistken, Somalia together with Erithrea and Ethiopia, were at one time considered to be Italian colonies. Only God knows if and how much wealth was considered to be have become Italian property at the time. Now it is the duty of the present Italian government to give some of this wealth back to the natives of these colonies.
This also goes for the other European countries who at one time or other had colonised African countries.
It is their duty to welcome with open hands those whose ancestors had suffered at their hands.
Malta hold on in there and let us show true coruage as a united people in this time of need! 40,000 people would swamp us, I'm sorry but I don't want to lose my identity as being Maltese!
"he rest of us maltese will be free to integrate with the immigrant population without hindrance."
Speak for your self
Don't you all see that this is a pathetic attempt by Maroni (senza pestare i piedi ai potenti) to convince his Italian countrymen (future voters) that he is doing something about the immigrant problem in Italy?
Like I already said ' Caro Maroni..se vuoi fare lo sborone vai fa a' farlo con Gheddafi o con Barroso'
In the end maybe all this is to make us forget how both Maltese and Italian politicians have proved INKOMPETENTI to solve the problem
VOTE AN
I agree than an extra 40,000 immigrants will place an increased strain on our resources. So what I propose is that an equal number of "immigrant-haters" , of which I would estimate there are about the same number of 40,000, would be invited to take their place on these same boats and sent off in the direction of Italy, or any other EU of their choice. Everyone will be happy then, and the rest of us maltese will be free to integrate with the immigrant population without hindrance.
Franco Frattini once made a statement, probably in a moment of unguarded truthfulness, that Malta and Cyprus should be turned into detention centres for African illegal immigrants. It seems this is the true Italian policy on illegal immigrants from North Africa.
I have often invited Maltese do-gooders to tell us how many illegal immigrants they want to 'welcome' in Malta. They never gave a number. Now Maroni has come up with a figure -
40 000. So I ask the Maltese do-gooders a more precise question: do you agree that Malta should hold 40 000 illegal immigrants over and above what it already has?
Stand your ground CMB. You have the support of all the decent patriotic Maltese citizens.
Inversely so, how many would be those migrants - landed in Malta these years, total to from those signalled to the AFM by Rome RCC??
The EU has long buried its head in the sand on this illegal immigration issue, and is now being rudely stirred by a clash between a couple of its neighbouring partners. Little is still being done to affront Libya head on, to solve Africa's problems in Africa, with closer patrolling as a deterrent to the Libyan 12-mile territorial waters' boundary. Spain on the West African side has been significantly succesful through FRONTEX operation 'Hera'.
As things stand, woe is Malta this summer (with large wooden fishing boats being the last trend as preferred means of transport) without more supporting FRONTEX patrolling assets. Hats off again to the AFM always!
Dr. C Mifsud Bonnici must therefore be fully supported nationally for standing his ground on this issue in which given our size and resource limitations we have a record second to none.
Good on you minister, but did you say it on the phone to him?? to his face maybe if you meet with him in some E.U meeting?? We must get tough on this issue, some editors think it fit to censor everything that i have to say but deep down a lot of people know that i am right on this issue.
I speak what the people are saying on the street, P.N and PL supporters.
How about the EU making conditions in their impoverished countries better so they do not have to invade our nations?
Maybe put some pressure on Libya while they're at it.
People who have been blowing the whistles for years have been shut up...
You reap what you sow!!!
It seems that during their conversation Berlusconi told Gonzi: "Lampedusa is full" and Gonzi replied "Malta too is full". So Berlusconi and Gonzi have now joined JPO!
But the lesson of this exchange is that the bigger and better our detention centres for illegal immigrants, the more of them we will have to take.
I would like to congratulate Dr Carm on his firm stand in this case and wish that he continues defending Malta's interests (above all other considerations) up to and beyond the European Parliament elections.
With 40000 illegal imigrants in Malta, most Maltese will be looking to emigrate from their homeland themselves Sig. Moroni!
Their point of destination has never been Malta, but Italy as well you know, so if you have a problem, you must do something about it instead of trying to bully us into solving your problem, we think that our Government has been more of their fair share under the circumstances.
If the position of a Government Minister is getting on top of you, you know you have an option and resign..........
Prosit PN. Prosit MLP.
we need to be very careful of our giant next door neighbour - as I doubt very much that they are treating us as "friends" like Gonzi/Borg said.
We survived during WWII fighting against them - and shall survive now as well - but it also makes us think, that in this world we need to fend for ourselves. Nobody is going to come and help us out.
It also means, to me that we need to start and work out some kind of agreement with Libia - on re-paatriation. Italy will die if we get an agreement and they don't.
Alos, if Italy continue to exagerate, we should take legal advice on whether Italy should be held responsable for damages they caused during WWII- such as Opera house etc., (istitute a legal proceedings to pay for damages held). Libia has done this, and they are likelyy to win millions of dollars. Being small is not always an disadvantage - we just need to be smart, stand up for ourselves.
Malta L-ewwel u qabel kollox - Dom Mintoff
The facts are that the shiploads are getting bigger, more will arriving soon and the criminal traffickers are still ‘untouchables’. This time Italy will be burdened with the responsibility of looking after these illegal immigrants; next time it will be Malta’s turn. At the end of the day however, we, the European Union, have been forced to take in another group on our soil. It is about time that Malta, Italy and the rest of the EU find an effective way of convincing Libya to stop this migration and to use our combined resources to weaken the criminal migration traffickers. Detention centres should be opened in North Africa and if necessary administered by the EU. This will avoid human tragedies at sea, reduce the number of illegal immigrants in Malta and Italy and probably be more cost effective.