Immigration: Reality check needed

Summer is not over and things may yet change. But judging by the dramatic reduction in the number of arriving migrants something significant has happened.

In 2008, a record 2,800 migrants arrived in Malta. Last year, this number went down by half. And so far, this year we received 27.

Until last year it was understandable that Malta faced significant constraints in dealing with the sheer numbers. But now that the emergency seems to have abated, how are we dealing with things?

My view is that it would be wrong to assume that Malta’s pressures are over. Doing so would ignore the cumulative effect of the past years – more than 12,000 migrants landed here since the turn of the century. They are stuck here unless they are returned, unless they flee to Europe or unless they are accepted for resettlement by other countries.

Those who abscond to Europe are often sent back here under a law known as the Dublin Regulation.

Sweden alone is reported to have shamelessly sent us back some 500. This law is under review to address its unfairness. But whereas we gave our go-ahead in the European Parliament more than a year ago, governments are still bickering over it in Council.

On the other hand, some countries have distinguished themselves for their solidarity. The US has led by example, taking some 500 migrants from Malta so far. France has also shone and latterly, other European countries have accepted increasing numbers. But in total, no more than 1,000 persons have been resettled.

Now if the 12,000 had to be redistributed proportionately among all EU countries, Malta would have to host just 12 people. And if all asylum seekers arriving in the entire EU had to be shared in this way, we would be responsible for less than 300.

So Malta is right to continue to demand that the responsibility for dealing with immigration and asylum should be shared fairly by all EU countries.

Nevertheless, once migrants arrive here, our duty to care for them cannot be compromised by the constraints that this may put on us. We should therefore seize upon the current paucity in arrivals to review how we are dealing with migrants who do arrive and to improve things as much as we can. A Migrants’ Network for Equality has been set up in what appears to be the first time that migrants have stood up to speak for themselves. We should hear what they have to say.

But some things are self-evident. For instance, we should review reception conditions at our open and closed centres. Now it stands to reason that conditions have improved since fewer people have arrived. Some detention centres are even reported to be empty when at the peak, they were jam-packed and conditions appalling.

Refurbishment programmes are ongoing and that is good. But we should also assess whether they are all adequate to host people. For instance, some 500 migrants are still living in tents. But surely, in the current scenario, this is no longer justified.

Likewise, recent reports that migrant minors in Malta may have fallen victim to a paedophile ring in Italy were highly disconcerting.

On detention policy, Malta has often been criticised for its firm policy of locking up arriving migrants and a recent European Court ruling needs to be looked into. This judgment will not require us to do away with our detention policy. But it will require us to be flexible where necessary. Flexibility is especially important in the case of vulnerable people such as minors and pregnant women.

On integration, the time has come to ask how we can integrate into our community those migrants who have a right to protection, who have children attending schools here and who show a willingness to integrate. A good number of migrants also speak Maltese. Is this not sign enough that their integration should be facilitated?

We should not shy away from integration just because it is politically treacherous. In any case, the numbers of those who wish to integrate is unlikely to be exorbitant since most migrants never really wanted to come here in the first place. So we should do our part, as a society, to show our hospitality.

This leaves just one point: xenophobia and racism.

Too little has been done to combat xenophobia and racism. But just look around you and signs of them come shrieking out. So we need a consistent government-led campaign to educate the public on immigration and how to deal with it.

The truth is that the immigration phenomenon has caught us all unawares and has affected the very social fabric of our society.

But the surprise is now over and it is time to wake up to reality.

Ask your MEP on www.simonbusuttil.eu.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.