Thousands of migrants are being funnelled into Europe’s black market economy because the reception system does not cater for those ineligible for asylum, according to Stefano Mallia, the EU’s Economic and Social Affairs Committee rapporteur on migration.

The EESC has, over the past few weeks, undertaken 12 country missions to gather information on the migrant situation in Europe. Mr Mallia, who led three such visits to Greece, Italy and Malta, said that specially set up migrant hotspots were catering for those who qualified for protection but do close to nothing for those who did not.

“As soon as migrants land in these hotspots, they are processed. If you do not qualify for asylum, you are given a piece of paper ordering you to get out of the country in seven days. After that you are an illegal, you cannot work and are vulnerable to abuse,” Mr Mallia told the Times of Malta.

He pointed out this was not happening in Malta because it still catered somewhat for those migrants not deemed to have a right to protection.

10,000

– the number of unaccompanied minors who vanished across the EU last year

He said the EU could only repatriate migrants arriving from countries that had struck a ‘returns’ agreement. The problem, however, was that the large majority of migrants came from countries that would not cooperate with the EU in accepting migrants back.

Those who could not be repatriated remained in the EU illegally, either becoming apathetic, wandering the streets with no legal means to do anything or falling into the clutches of abusive employment or worse.

Mr Mallia said the situation was particularly worrying for minors. The latest EU figures, he said, showed that about 10,000 unaccompanied minors arriving in the EU last year had vanished from official records.

‘Current system is clearly not working’

“Some will go on to try and find their family, possibly leaving the country of arrival. Others, however, are picked up by people who abuse of their desperate situation and exploit them – be it in prostitution or manual labour,” he added.

He said: “They are escaping a situation of abuse only to find themselves in what is possibly worse abuse, this time in Europe”.

Mr Mallia insisted the EU had done a fantastic job of ensuring deaths at sea were minimised. However, it was offering little hope for the survivors once they made it to the continent.

On a recent trip to Sicily, he met with the mayor of Pozzallo, Luigi Ammatuna, who, he said, had lamented about being powerless to help these migrants.

“The mayor cannot do anything to help those who have been ordered to leave the country. They become illegals and assisting them is a criminal offence. Therefore, the mayor himself risks being arrested if he offers assistance.

Migrants deemed not to deserve protection are kicked out of reception centres and basically given no choice but to enter the black market

“I want to be clear, only migrants that are found to deserve protection should be offered asylum but the current system has too many flaws and is clearly not working. It’s like a tripod with just one functioning leg,” Mr Mallia said.

What can be done?

Mr Mallia said regular employment was key to helping migrants integrate.

He said migrants could not be expected to form part of society if they were not given access to regular and controlled employment. The current system, he said, served only to marginalise migrants further.

“The European Commission argues that we have to find long-term solutions for the root cause and that is true. But what has become increasingly apparent is that our short-term and immediate response needs to deal with certain problems first such as the incredibly long time for papers to be issued,” Mr Mallia said.

What, in his opinion, is most critical, however, is that the returns mechanism is up and running and that member states face up to their responsibilities and honour their commitments when it comes to the relocation of refugees within the EU.

Mr Mallia was keen to stress that “the largest blame lies squarely with the individual member states that are failing us as EU citizens and the refugees that deserve protection”.

According to him, this is a crisis that is much more serious than the financial one and the EU risks being torn apart by the tensions being created.

“Now more than ever, Europe requires strong and courageous political leaders who, unfortunately, seem to be missing,” Mr Mallia concludes.