Borg calls for cooperation with African countries on immigration
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg has called for increased cooperation with the countries that are transited by migrants before they leave for the European Union.
Addressing an EU foreign ministers' meeting, Dr Borg appealed to his European counterparts to demonstrate more solidarity with those countries experiencing high influxes of immigration. he said the EU should help Libya in the control of its frontiers.
Besides making demands on Libya, the EU should also understand Libya’s own demands from the European Union.
Dr Borg also insisted that search and rescue operations should be carried out in the context of existing international laws.
On the repatriation of illegal immigrants, Dr Borg said that the challenge was not in the logistical planning of flights, but on the lack of documentation that was necessary for the repatriation process to be completed. To this end, the European Commission should strive to reach agreements with countries of origin for the recognition of documentation which produced by the European Union in the absence of the basic documentation.
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Jesmond Micallef
Oct 28th 2009, 15:30
@ Mr. M. Seager,
In relation to your use of the word "us", could you please be very explicit and precise to whom you are actually referring to ?? Meaning : How many, Geographical location, Gender etc etc.
You see, I am just like one of the readers here, PROUD THAT MALTA DID NOT COLONISE ANY OTHER COUNTRY - THAT IS ROCK SOLID FACT !!
Furthermore, I did mention also Inter-cultural marriages which you have not included but did mention Job Skills - Sounds like people with "special" skills to me, "special people" maybe ??? Could you clarify please, I don't understand.
Thanks in advance !!
C.ZARB
Oct 28th 2009, 07:15
@ Moses Mula
Sweden had small settlements in Africa which were mainly in the Gulf of Guinea in present Ghana (including the Cape Coast). It also practiced Slave trade which remained legal up to 1813. Germany had various colonies which included today’s Cameroon, German East Africa (which consisted of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganiya) and Germany South West Africa (which included present Namibia). Some people should really make sure of getting their facts right before countering an argument.
Id love to know how many colonies Malta had or if (like many other African countries) it was in itself a colony up to 1964
C.Zarb
Oct 27th 2009, 23:48
@ Mr Mula
With all due respect Mr Mula but if Sweden truly care about illegal immigrants (and us) then they would back rather then hinder our local government's obligatory burden sharing idea. Till the time of writing immigrants are locked in our small country which neither have the space nor the resources to integrate them successfully.
Regarding the supposed benefits Malta had enjoyed, I wonder if you have noticed that we were colonies just like many African nations were.
C.Zarb
Oct 27th 2009, 23:34
Sweden had small settlements in Africa which were mainly in the Gulf of Guinea in present Ghana (including the Cape Coast). Germany had various colonies which include German East Africa (which included Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganiya) and Germany South West Africa (which included present Namibia). Id love to know how many colonies Malta had.
Anyway it was nice to see you stick to my main argument (sic) rather then searching through the fineprint.
m.seager
Oct 27th 2009, 23:03
@ Jesmond Micalleff
Please enlighten us.. and maybe give us stats in %'s over land mass, population and maybe gender and age while you are at it.
lest we forget.... yes job skill too..
thank you in advance
lgalea
Oct 27th 2009, 22:03
Sander Depasquale
We should stop this humanitarian stance and then the illegal immigrants will learn not to risk their lives because no one will risk his soldiers lives to try to save them.
Adriano Spiteri
Totally agree with you.
Charles Sammut
You are perfectly correct. The eu wants to destroy the nation state and build a despotic dictatorial united states of europe.
Raymond Sammut
Oct 27th 2009, 21:10
@ C.ZARB
Can you give us some illustrative examples of colonisation by Sweden? I am always keen to learn new things.
Jesmond Micallef
Oct 27th 2009, 21:01
@Charles Sammut:
This dilution you have mentioned !! ............OK, here I go :
Consider the following :
Case 1 .
How many ethnic Turkish people are there in relation to ethnic Germans in Germany ? How do these people integrate in Germany, Are there areas where only Turkish people live in ? What jobs do these Turkish people perform ? What about inter-cultural marriages in this regard ?
Case 2.
How many ethnic Indians, ethnic Pakistanis, ethnic Africans etc etc are there in relation to ethnic British poeple living in Britain ?
Take Bradford in the Yorkshire, UK. : How many ethnic Pakistani people are living there in relation to ethnic British people ? How do these people integrate in the UK ? Are there areas where only Pakistani people live in ? What jobs do these people perform ? What about inter-cultural marriages in this regard ?
Case 3 :
Same as above but relating to ethnic Algerians, ethnic Tunisians, ethnic Morocans etc etc.
As case city in France, I would recommend the outskirts of Marseille !!
Should this notion of dilution somehow becomes a problem, may I be bold enough to suggest quotas ???
Word count reached !!
moses mula
Oct 27th 2009, 20:36
@C. Zarb, take a better look at your history books, Sweden never colonized any country. Some people should really make sure of getting their facts right before they write their comments. And Germany had Namibia for a short while. Do you know how many kurds, somalis and eritrean refugees there is in Sweden?
@Adriano Spiteri, europe has been dependent on Africans when it comes to certain raw materials, and this at the expence of other africans. Malta has benefitted as well, maybe not directly but indirectly. And I guess what Tonio meant is for the E.U. to pay loads of money to Liya so they will not allow immigrants to escape to Malta. But does Tonio care about the situations in Sudan, Niger, Congo,Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and other countrieswhere because of precarious situations people tend to flee from these countries, even if this does not effect Malta? Solidarity goes two ways.
Charles Sammut
Oct 27th 2009, 20:18
Dear Dr Borg, just in case you had not noticed, it is the EU's not so secret plan to dilute us with immigrants to destroy our identity. Everybody will then become just "European" and servile to the European Soviet Union.
Stephen Vella
Oct 27th 2009, 19:48
What a waste of time. Our minister is still thinking that someone will listen to us on this issue!!! Keep on DREAMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. And with the Lisbon Treaty Signed, Malta can never ever dictate anything.
Adriano Spiteri
Oct 27th 2009, 18:52
In other words Tonio is stating that us, Europeans, should co-operate with African countries in an attempt to find a solution.
This does not make sense. We, as a country, should simply stop them 14 miles out in international waters and moreover refuse collecting them if they're in danger. We will help anyone who's entering our territories legally NOT illegally. Whoever ventures to enter illegally should be left to deal with all the troubles his insane ideas inflict on him. This merciless approach would deter others from following their example.
Europe, as a bloc, should support us in this. Italy will be our first ally, others would eventually offer their own support.
Co-operating with African countries means being dependant on them. Africa is already a liability. Tonio's idea would only multiply this liability and furthermore give these 'exit countries' a say.
First we had Simon's infantile dream of burden sharing that turned out to be a joke and now Tonio's 'Co-Operation with Africa'. Even more laughable. GonziPN are unable to get tough on this. Only JPO got it right. Send them back to where they came from & stop others out there!
Sander Depasquale
Oct 27th 2009, 18:42
@ Dennis Catania
Malta have to take illegal immigrants because we are doing a humanitaian act and saving these people from the sea.
And these immigrants are abusing our generosity by telling their relatives to join in at our expense. One has to note that a day's work in most parts of Africa is €1 a day and we give them accomodation, food and some pocket money for free!!!
I hope that the government will do us a favour and stop pretending that he is complaining with Europe about immigrants and then go on to sign the immigration pact without making burden sharing compulsory!!!!
And now given the Lisbon treaty immigration laws need not be signed by all european countries to pas as laws, only a majority will do....
U halluna!!!!
C.ZARB
Oct 27th 2009, 18:01
Dear Mr Borg
Its cheaper for Northern Europe to have immigrants locked in Italy, Malta and Cyprus then to help Libya to take care of its frontiers. Why should the Germans, the Swedish and all other former colonisers help Libya when illegal immigration from that part of the world doesn't hinder them one bit? Maybe (pls don't laugh) because of solidarity towards Malta?
Denis Catania
Oct 27th 2009, 15:53
If the African countries is not taking them back due to lack of documents, why should Malta take them in with no documents ?
Jesmond Micallef
Oct 27th 2009, 15:23
Quote : "Dr Borg insisted that besides emphasising on demands with Libya, it was also important that to understand Libya’s own demands from the European Union."
Well said Dr. Borg. !!! As the english saying goes : It takes two to tango !!!