Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil has welcomed the political progress being made in Somalia, saying it is good news for Malta.

"If we are concerned about the large number of Somalis landing on our shores then it is in our direct interest to see Somalia get back on its feet again," Dr Busuttil writes in an opinion piece in The Times today.

Somalis constitute the largest immigrant community in Malta and repatriation has been difficult because of the political instability there.

Militant Islamists belonging to Al-Shabaab have been chased out of the capital Mogadishu and many who left Somalia to escape the violence that gripped the country for 20 years are now returning home.

Last week, Somalia's Federal Parliament met for the first time since the collapse of the central government 20 years ago.

"The European Union has long been involved in efforts to try and stabilise the situation in Somalia. Year in year out, it has provided relief to millions of Somalis by means of humanitarian aid. And it has also provided development aid," Dr Busuttil points out.

Moreover, the EU has also conducted military operations to help stabilise the situation.

The EU Military Training Mission (EUTM) trains Somali soldiers and police forces in Uganda. As I understand it, two Maltese officers form part of the EU contingent of trainers. The aim of this programme is to train soldiers and policemen who would then return to Somalia to join the country's government-controlled security forces.

These enable the government to slowly but consistently extend its control over the entire territory.

Furthermore, the EU also operates NAFOR Somalia, a joint naval task force operating around the Horn of Africa to protect the main shipping lanes from Somali pirates.

"If we are concerned about the large number of Somalis landing on our shores in rickety migrant boats, then it is in our direct interest to see Somalia get back on its feet again.

"You might say that Somalia is "someone else's war". True, but when its ripples reach our shores what happens in Somalia becomes our concern too.

"So it is reasonable for us to support the efforts to bring peace and stability to this country," Dr Busuttil said.

See full opinion piece at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120829/opinion/Why-Somalia-should-concern-us.434776

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.