Germany to take refugees from Malta

Germany would be taking a group of 14 Eritrean refugees from Malta, the Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

It is following in the footsteps of France, which last week took a group of 96 refugees and settled them in three villages in northern France.

Germany's new Ambassador to Malta, Bernd Braun, told Foreign Minister Tonio Borg that his country was prepared to relocate a group of Eritrean nationals to Germany to join a group of co-nationals who were already there and who were prepared to help them integrate in the German society.

He said his country understood Malta's difficulties in coping with the influx of illegal migrants. In view of the excellent relations between Germany and Malta, his country wanted to help Malta deal with the problem.

Mr Braun said Germany and Malta also had strong economic and commercial ties, especially with the investments of Lufhansa Technik and Playmobil in Malta.

He said German investments in Malta hit the €24 million mark, more than the investment of German companies in other countries, like Poland.

Born in 1946 in Berlin, Mr Braun served as the German ambassador to Russia, Estonia and Kenya.

The 78 adults, five children and 13 infants who travelled to France are from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Côte d'Ivoire and Sri Lanka. They had been in Malta for an average of four years.

France also committed itself to taking another group of 80 adults and between 10 and 30 children next year.

The relocation project was in response to the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum agreed in October last year.

The French Ambassador to Malta, Daniel Rondeau, who accompanied the migrants to France, said his country was committed to helping Malta deal with the illegal migration problem, adding that it wanted other EU member states to shoulder part of the burden too.