[attach id=248377 size="medium"]About 60 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of Muhammad El-Ghirani. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]

The authorities should be more stringent when granting asylum to Libyans in Malta, according to the Libyan chargé d’affaires Muhammad El-Ghirani.

“I would like the new Government to take steps, be stricter and not give asylum to every Libyan,” Dr El-Ghirani told The Times after a group of Libyans presented a petition signed by about 60 people calling for his removal.

Crowding the reception hall at the embassy in Balzan, they insisted that despite the demise of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, the revolution was still going on.

“Gaddafi’s people”, including Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz and the chargé d’affaires in Malta were still around, they claimed.

“They left through the window and came in through the door. We want the removal of Dr El-Ghirani,” Khaled Mohammed Baarra said, pointing to a placard which read: you should be ashamed.

For months, some Libyans living in Malta have claimed that the embassy is not supporting them financially or providing employment. Yesterday, they spoke about delays in the processing of travel and marriage documents, the removal of Libyan employees from the embassy and the replacement of Arab staff at the Libyan school in Ta’ Giorni with “foreigners”.

Everyone comes here asking for help and we cannot help them

Dr El-Ghirani spoke to their representatives in his office and asked them to list their complaints so he could send them to the Libyan Government.

After an agitated meeting, Dr El-Ghirani said that the protesters were troublemakers who expected the embassy to be a sort of employment agency that dished out jobs and money.

“When I came here seven months ago, I did not find an embassy working on the relationship between Malta and Libya but an office dishing out money and employment,” he said, adding that, apart from the official staff, who were sent over from Libya, he found about 40 local employees, 30 of whom were Libyan.

This was more than what was needed and the embassy started reducing its local staff, he added, pointing out that, as Charge d’Affaires, he could not take decisions on his own but took orders from the Libyan Government.

He said that since the protesters were unemployed, but had polished their skills in construction, they should head back to Libya now that it was a free country and help rebuild it.

During the revolution, Dr El-Ghirani was in Misurata. In previous years, he had travelled to the UK and Malaysia where he lectured in law and human rights.

Reacting to claims that he was a “Gaddafi man” because of his involvement in foreign affairs before the revolution, he said he had always worked for the country, not for Col Gaddafi.

“And when we got the chance, we revolted,” he said, adding he had formed part of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (a political opposition group) in the UK. Dr El-Ghirani laughed at the claim that he should be removed.

“They believe I am happy in Malta. It is too much trouble and the Government is turning a blind eye by giving asylum to everyone,” he said.

“Malta is also too close to Libya. Everyone comes here asking for help and we cannot help them.”

Insisting the Government should be stricter with asylum seekers, he said he would like to meet the ministers concerned.

“There are about 3,000 Libyans in Malta and, believe me, I don’t see the best of them. I don’t see the respectable ones. I see troublemakers.

“I laugh at their request of resignation. It is none of their business. Who are they? I am here to obey orders.”

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.