Purpose of the European Asylum Support Office

I refer to the letter How Will The Asylum Office Benefit Malta? (January 13).

It is important to keep in mind the purpose for which the European Asylum Support Office is being set up. Summarily, it is intended to improve the implementation of the common European asylum system; strengthen practical cooperation among member states on asylum and provide and coordinate operational support to member states facing specific and disproportionate pressures on their national asylum systems.

It was never intended to be a centralised European agency to consider particular asylum requests or to loosen the existing policies on asylum. Indeed, it is not meant to and will not deal directly with claims for asylum by individuals.

An equally important aim of this office will be to promote the harmonisation of asylum procedures across all EU member states and, hence, eliminate the "asylum shopping" possibility that exists today, which makes certain states more attractive than others for asylum seekers.

The decision to seat EASO in Malta is a reflection of the appreciation that other member states have for Malta's particular situation but also for its leadership in putting illegal migration at the top of the EU's agenda. While EASO will not cater solely for pressures that Malta is facing but also for situations other EU countries may be experiencing, the location of this office in Malta will assist in further strengthening our message. This development will also make our country one of a few new member states that are hosting an EU agency.

Malta will also be benefiting indirectly from the setting up of the EASO. The personnel working at the agency (expected to number about 100 in a few years' time), their families and the visiting experts and participants to meetings hosted by the office will be making use of our country's facilities. The office in itself would have its own requirements, which will, at any rate, involve the local business community.

To assure readers, it is illogical to expect the EASO to attract asylum seekers when it will not be, in any way, receiving asylum applications. That is, unless one wishes to generate misinformation on its particular role. Perhaps emphasis on the term "support" needs to be overstressed when taking into account the very nature of the function that this office will be serving in the European Union.