Almost half of the visa applications by Algerians to enter Malta were refused last year, according to the Home Affairs Ministry.
It was reacting to claims by an immigration officer at Malta International Airport who warned of “gaps” in the Schengen system.
The officer, Johan Mula, said he had noticed a number of cases involving Algerians and other nationalities in which he was “morally convinced” those granted entry to Malta were not bona fide applicants.
The ministry insisted there was “absolutely nothing to indicate the veracity” of Mr Mula’s allegations.
“In 2014, after having consulted with the police authorities in Malta, the Maltese Consulate in Algiers refused no less than 46 per cent of all visa applications submitted to it,” the ministry said.
Mr Mula had taken to Facebook to praise French far-right leader Marine Le Pen for asking the French President to suspend the visa-free Schengen area in Europe in the wake of the attacks by two French-Algerian terrorists on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which 12 people were killed.
He argued Malta was being used as an entry point by Algerians wanting to go to France but later clarified the Algerians he was talking about were not terrorists.
Absolutely nothing to indicate the veracity of Mr Mula’s allegations
The ministry said the administration of the Schengen entry points by the police was “rigorously and assiduously” done in the best interests of security and in full observance of Schengen Treaty obligations.
It said that any person needing a visa to enter the Schengen area had to submit a list of documents relating to the applicant’s identity.
“This information and documentation is thoroughly vetted and subject to clarification and controls prior to the application being processed and a Schengen visa being possibly issued,” the ministry said.
Such controls are carried out over and above those conducted by the consular office in the country where the application was received.
Although the final decision on whether to issue the visa or not rests with the consul, after receiving recommendations from the police, there are cases where the person is refused entry after doubts arise when the visa holder arrives in Malta. Reacting to another allegation that decisions on whether to refuse entry were being taken by officers at the police depot, the ministry said this was done in consultation with police officers detailed at the airport or point of arrival, who would have talked to the traveller.
“It must also be stressed that the occasions when the original decision taken by the police officers at the point of arrival, who interrogated the arriving passenger, are reversed are few and far between,” the ministry said.