The recent arraignment of Joe Sammut over fraud, forgery and misappropriation charges and the earlier scandal involving the sale of visas by Maltese officials at the embassy in Libya have raised question marks about the administration of this vitally important area of business by Identity Malta.
There are wide-ranging implications arising from such abuse affecting both the economy and national security. Identity Malta is the government’s central authority for issuing visas. It is responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the Schengen agreement which Malta signed up to several years ago.
What Malta does on visas, therefore, affects visitors’ freedom of travel throughout the Union. It is the job of the Central Visa Unit of Identity Malta, operating in conjunction with Immigration Police and Malta Consular Offices, to ensure that “Third Country National” visitors (that is, non-EU citizens) “have a valid and genuine reason to come to Malta”.
It is against this background that recent complaints about the way in which visa applications are being handled should be viewed.
A Libyan businessman who resides in San Ġwann had been arraigned before a magistrate’s court after Customs Officers found nine passports in his luggage as he disembarked from a flight from Mitiga in Libya.
His lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, said his client was not contesting the fact that he was in possession of the passports.
He said that his client was simply delivering nine passports and corresponding applications for a visa to enter Malta.
He pleaded that the Libyans had no other option but to send their passports and visa applications with other people travelling to Malta because the Central Visa Unit insisted it had to have the original passport together with the visa application.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact, he claimed, that the Unit only accepted passports delivered by the person hosting the applicant and would not accept those delivered by courier. According to Malta Police testimony, Mohamed Ramdan Mostfa Mousa, the 33-year-old Libyan who was arraigned in court, told investigators the passports had been handed to him just before his departure from Libya by an airport employee, who had asked him to deliver them together with the visa applications. He had never met the people whose passports he was carrying.
While it is for the court to decide on the specific case of Mr Mousa, it is quite clear that those attempting to come to Malta from broken States, such as Libya and Syria, currently have to endure closer scrutiny and tighter procedures. But it is difficult to blame either Identity Malta, the Immigration Police or the Maltese visa unit for this.
Quite the contrary. Malta is extremely sensitive to Syrian or Libyan nationals who may be seeking to leave their troubled countries, and with the financial means to do so, arriving here illegally.
The Maltese authorities have the overriding responsibility for ensuring the bona fides of those applying for a visa, not only because there are security implications for Malta, but also because they have a wider commitment to comply with EU Schengen rules.
While it may be necessary for Identity Malta to examine all available means to streamline the system, this must not come at the cost of undermining national security. Individuals found carrying nine or 10 passports (as in another case dealt with by Dr Azzopardi) must immediately be “suspect” in a world that has become vulnerable to extremist threats from Jihadist groups. Vigilance by the National Visa Unit and the Immigration Police is to be commended.