Europe’s slow response to the problem of irregular migration was raising questions about whether it placed financial matters before human lives, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Addressing the annual general conference of the Għaxaq Labour Party club, he paid tribute to the victims of the latest tragedy and heaped praise on the Armed Forces of Malta for saving 150 lives.
In remarks critical of the EU, he said Brussels was much more proactive in addressing issues like the Greek financial crisis than in tackling irregular migration, even though the death toll was rising.
As long as I am Prime Minister we will not let anyone trample on us
So far, the bloc’s pledges of solidarity had not materialised into concrete help. Malta and Italy had been left to cope alone with the problem, which in the last couple of years had been aggravated by the Syrian conflict.
Malta’s role was to promote peace in the Mediterranean as this was of crucial importance for the stability of the region. “If no serious action is taken we will continue to pick dead bodies up from the sea,” he warned.
Dr Muscat stressed the fact that Malta had demonstrated to the international community that it was ready to shoulder its responsibilities by saving the lives of 150 asylum seekers. The Maltese armed forces were Europe’s heroes, he said.
While welcoming the announcement that irregular migration would be on the agenda of the forthcoming EU summit later this month, he said this was not enough. Throwing money at the problem would not lead to a long term solution.
He also referred to last August’s incident, when the Maltese Government refused to accept 102 migrants rescued by the MT Salamis off the Libyan coast. The incident had fuelled criticism especially from human rights groups as well from European Commissioner Margot Malmstrom, who insisted that Malta had the “humanitarian duty” to allow the migrants to disembark.
Dr Muscat said that back then Malta had every right to take such a stand as it was abiding by international law. Friday’s decision to rescue the migrants was perfectly coherent with the stand taken on the MT Salamis.
“As long as I am Prime Minister we will not let anyone trample on us.”
Malta, he said, could not remain a “spectator” but must be “a protagonist to promote peace”. It had to send a strong message, even in the European Parliament, and urged the five MEPs from both parties to unite. Choosing the right candidates in next May’s European Parliament elections would be of paramount importance.
Also speaking yesterday, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said saving human lives must be put before any other consideration.
Addressing an activity in Swieqi, he said Malta must do its part to alleviate the suffering of the people fleeing the persecution of the Syrian regime.