Immigration is no song contest

Whenever Malta fails to place honourably in the Eurovision Song Contest we tend to blame those neighbouring countries that seem to gang together and vote for each other. We lament that this is not fair play and betrays the provinciality of European solidarity.

Such paranoia probably arises out of our smallness and a deep-rooted, “vulnerable” mindset. But maybe it is not just paranoia. Could it be a result of our history? Over the centuries, we Maltese learnt to live with our foreign masters. We became pragmatic, at times cynic. However, benevolent our masters, their interests always came first.

Now we are part of the EU. We have partners not masters. And, yet, it seems that history keeps repeating itself. The EU brings together a wide array of societies promising them a common destiny on the basis of shared values and common interests. Just like when Malta is asked to fork out millions of euros towards the European Stability Mechanism. Malta, with an unduly high sovereign debt, can hardly afford to pay this money. No problem: this is what solidarity is all about.

We Maltese should be proud that we are paying our dues. MEP Simon Busuttil wrote: “I am a Maltese proud of my country” (April 13). Dr Busuttil is a smart politician who does good work for Malta. Being proud of our country does not necessarily mean concurring with whatever our government does or surrendering to every wish of the EU. Our national interest needs to be defended because no one else will do it for us.

All of Malta was behind Dr Busuttil when he asked that the European Commission activates the solidarity mechanism, which would make migrant burden sharing obligatory. Our Prime Minister too acknowledged the seriousness of the threat for our country when he spoke about “the massive potential for a biblical exodus of migrants” (April 4).

Yet, Dr Busuttil and friends failed to persuade their own European People’s Party to support their motion. Addressing a plenary session in Strasbourg, Dr Busuttil stated that the “time has come for EU leaders to honour their word and show us in practice what concrete solidarity really means” (April 4).

The solidarity Malta keeps getting from the EU (besides some funds to keep us quiet and symbolic gestures from mighty countries) is from Cecilia Malmstrom, European Home Affairs Commissioner, who wants to persuade us there has been no “mass influx” of migrants. Worse still, our government was rebuked by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, for insisting with its detention policy, the inhuman conditions in our open centres and for not doing enough to combat racism and xenophobia.

So is our Prime Minister panicking? Can we really have peace of mind that the EU will bail us out should the situation get worse? What is happening with Frontex? Is it true Malta made an urgent request to the agency for a new joint operation and the deployment of a rapid border intervention team? Perhaps the government can tell us how many countries have accepted to participate and explain to Joe Citizen why Frontex continues to insist (contrary to international maritime law) that rescued migrants not returned to the country of departure be accepted by the country hosting the mission (Malta)?

In any case, does anyone believe Frontex will be effective? What is different now from previous years? In 2008, Frontex director, Ilkka Laitinen, admitted that its patrols may have actually encouraged more migrants to attempt to cross over (September 21, 2008). The lull in the inflow of migrants in these last couple of years is no thanks to Frontex or any action by the EU. It had to be maverick Silvio Berlusconi to find a solution. He promised to pay Muammar Gaddafi $5 billion in compensation for the offences committed by Imperial Italy in Libya. Now Col Gaddafi is a hounded man and will do his utmost to turn Europe “black”.

No other EU member state has the right to preach to us about values. We may not be perfect, but in the circumstances we are doing our best to be of help. A report commissioned last year by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee confirmed that Malta is carrying the biggest burden of migration in the EU. Earlier this year, Malta served as a bridge for the evacuation of some 13,000 persons of all nationalities from Libya.

Many of us realise that whether these boat people are refugees or economic migrants, they are victims of an unjust world order. They deserve to be assisted. Their inflow in uncontrolled quantities presents a stability and security challenge for our country. Poorer, unskilled segments of our society feel threatened by globalisation and see no gain in permanently hosting these unfortunate people.

The EU needs these immigrants to make good for its ageing population. It needs to have a consistent and transparent immigration policy. Solidarity underpins the EU’s very existence.

Malta must be prepared and have an alternative plan should our worse fears materialise. The Leader of the Opposition is right to insist on protecting the rights of all our society. We need to avoid a repeat of our government’s sense of impotency when it signed the EU Immigration Pact in 2008. Immigration is no song contest.

fms18@onvol.net