Tuesday, 21st April 2009 - 16:17CET
Maroni claims Malta sent 40,000 migrants to Italy
Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni has accused Malta of having effectively sent 40,000 immigrants to Italy by not participating in their rescue.
The claim is made in a report to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Jacques Barrot..
The Corriere della Sera says that Mr Maroni is also claiming that Malta failed to intervene 600 times in cases involving migrants at sea.
The newspaper says the most serious spat between the two countries took place last month when the frigate Minerva carrying 76 migrants rescued "in Maltese waters" was not allowed to disembark the migrants in Malta and had to take them to Sicily.
It says that Italy had on several occasions accused Malta of having directed migrants' boats towards Sicily, going back to 2004. It had not intervened 600 times, and as a result, Italy had to receive 40,000 immigrants who should have been taken in by Malta.
The report also includes statistics by the Italian Coastguard which show that in 2008 the Italian forces carried out 186 rescue operations in the Maltese search and rescue area, saving 12,900 migrants.
2007 was slightly better, with the Italian Coastguard having carried out 148 rescue operations, rescuing 6,255.
The report quotes various international conventions and reports Mr Moroni as saying that Italy expected the intervention of the European Commission so that everyone would respect the rules.
"We do not intend to assume responsibility for problems in areas which fall under the responsibility of other countries, especially Malta, which received EU funding for such interventions," Mr Moroni is quoted as saying.
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Comments
If 40,000 extra immigrants had to enter Malta, then an extra 40,000 immigrants would be dead by now!...
We are stretched to the limit!
We cannot feed them!
We cannot house them!
We cannot tend to their health!
They would have starved to death or died of illness like dogs on the street...
So is this what Mr. Maroni wants? 40,000 people stashed in the space for 5,000?
I personally think that taking them in would have been a worse disaster than letting them drown for a quick painless death! These Italians have some serious short circuits in the upper quarters!
His way of tackling things is dangerous if it were addressed to a country a bit larger than Malta. He wants that Malta, that has to watch a huge area disproportionate with its size, as a consequence, any shipwrecked person has to transported to Malta. That's Moron-i reasoning
Mr Moroni should go to a refresher course in geography and right reasoning.
#44 giordano (154) - lettore
il 21.04.09 alle ore 18:23 scrive:
dichiariamo guerra a Malta
http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=345485
Dawn hbieb jew?!
Viva Malta Maqghuda! Fejn hemm l-ghaqda hemm is-sahha nies! Ara ma ninfirdux f'mument bhal dan ghax nitfarrku!
maybe the illegal immigrants can start by teaching mr maroni some manners, and lecture him about the virtues of patience, respect, tolerance, human rights, friendship, diplomacy etc. etc.
his recent rage clearly demonstrates that he needs this opportunity drastically.
By any chance is the Minister expecting that on top of the 12000 that have visited us we should have also accommodated another 40000? And shall we with all the EU assistance limit our detention centre to the same capacity as that of Lampedusa?
It's now official.....it's a chronic ailment !!!!
Signor Frattolini is dead set .....Malta has to be a concentration camp !
Signor Maronini wants Malta sunk !
Poor Elephant Italy.....Not being able to hit at Lybia......hits out at "Arrogant" Mouse Malta !
The traffickers and illegal immigrants must be having a good laugh at Signor Maroni as they watch him make a complete fool of himself.
So either way, he's slow or wrong.
Malta being such a small island, it is costing us A FORTUNE trying to keep as best we can some of these unfortunate people...
We already have 45,000 new id cards of non Maltese.
How would Italy take 5.8 million of illegal immigrants, considering it's population is that of around 58 million?
Where is EU's concrete solidarity in this ?
Rapporti tista taghmel kemm trid biex forsi tintogghob ma' l-Onorevoli habib taghna l-Prim Ministru Berlusconi, ghax minn jaf kif hatfek fuq ic-cucata li ghamiltlu f'din il-kwistjoni bla bzonn!
Ahna l-Maltin irgulija u solidarjeta ghandna bzonn, u mhux min jilabna!
Ahna l-Maltin ilkoll ninsabu qalb wahda mal-mexxeja taghna l-Maltin, ghax is-sewwa jirbah zgur!
http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=345270
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?
Besides I also hope that it is obvious to everyone including the Italians that our country would fall under the pressure of an influx of 40,000 in a year
Or would the saying "Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad" be more appropriate?
Even if this was the case, would Moroni want us to take in 40,000 illegal immigrants?
What would the Italians say if suddenly they found out that they had been invades by some 5.6,000,000 illegal immigrants? (1 illegal immigrant in Malta = 140 in Italy)
Don't be a moron Moroni.
As for eu funds you can take them because we do not want eu funds to keep illegal immigrants in Malta but want NO illegal immigrants in Malta.
PS: Shall we invite Mr. Moroni for a holiday in Malta, and give him free accomodation at either B'Bugia or Marsa?
It seems to me that the Italians not only are unwilling to 'burden share' in compliance with the recent pact which was signed by EU member states, but instead they are doing everything they can to force Malta to take all the illegal immigrants picked up in the Mediterranean, something they know will be the end of our beloved country as we know it! Shame on them! They are supposed to be our friends.
What amazes me most is that Libya, who is responsible for sending these people on these illegal journeys is allowed to continue to do so without any reprimand from either Italy, the EU, the UN, or any of the many NGOs involved in trying to help illegal immigrants.
This would spell the end of Malta as we know it today, if the allegation as quoted by Sig. Maroni is correct!
God forbid if this is true; otherwise we are FINISHED!
AMEN.
../..
What Sig Maroni fails to mention is that we just happen to be in the way. Not one single one of them wanted to come to Malta. They were all attracted to Europe, of which the Italian peninsula conveniently juts out southwards. He wants us to act as a filter!