I refer to the news item: Migrants In Libya Harshly Treated, Unprotected – JRS” (October 11) which refers to a statement by Michael Schoepf, who heads JRS Europe.

He added that even if Malta faced difficulty in dealing with those who needed protection, closing European borders was the wrong answer. He said border control must never be at the expense of human rights, and called for changes to the EU legal framework, the Dublin II regulation, to ensure more solidarity among member states so they could collectively take on more asylum seekers.

Quite apart from day-to-day controversies and polemics, this statement describes JRS’ ideology and the reason why it can never have majority support in Malta or anywhere in Europe.

First, Mr Schoepf spells out JRS’ objective that EU member states should “collectively take on more asylum seekers”. He does not say how many millions of asylum seekers JRS would like Malta and EU member states to take, even though in the case of population movements numbers are of the essence. I guess that whatever number an EU member state decides to take, JRS will always expect it to take more. Of course, not all asylum seekers actually qualify for refugee status and that status is flexible and elastic anyway in the eyes of the applicants and their protectors.

Second, Mr Schoepf starts from his idealistic position that “border control must never be at the expense of human rights” to exempt himself from proposing a solution to the difficulties Malta faces in dealing with the influx. He limits himself to expressing the fond hope that other EU member states will come to our rescue with some helpful amendment to the Dublin II regulation some time in the never-never future.

Mr Schoepf needs to recall that European countries used to protect themselves by stationing armies at their borders. Such measures are no longer necessary in Europe but we are still faced with the threat of a creeping invasion by millions of Africans and Asians in search for a better life which Europe cannot provide.

Of course they deserve a better life, but in their own countries. JRS should not mistake the rights of genuine refugees with the desirability of development.