A Maltese woman who wishes to host two Libyan family friends at her home as war rages through their country has accused the authorities of being “unreasonably stubborn” in refusing to grant them a three-month visa.
Marika Grotjans said she cannot understand why the authorities are adopting a rigid stand, especially when they appeared to give preferential treatment to a top Libyan official.
“I’m angry because I’m not asking for anything illegal. These people are not criminals and there is no reason to refuse this temporary visa... If I had to be crude, I’d say that the authorities have no teeth. It boils down to absurd, undiluted bureaucracy at its extreme worst,” she told The Sunday Times.
The men, in their 30s, are currently in Tunisia after fleeing Libya about a month ago. Both the Maltese embassy in Tunis and the visa unit in Malta are insisting the men have to apply through an embassy in their own country.
Ms Grotjans dismissed the instruction as “ridiculous”, saying it was clear the two men could not return to their war-torn country to obtain a visa.
Her anger increased after the Maltese government recently granted a visa to former Libyan minister Omar Fathi bin Shatwan on humanitarian grounds after he reached the island by boat.
“Why are these men different?” Ms Grotjans asked.
When contacted, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs’ Ministry said the two cases were different.
“In virtue of the Schengen regulations, the issuing of visas can only take place (in) the country of residence... the visa section and the immigration police (in Malta) are extremely cautious before issuing visas to Libyan nationals in view of the current crisis.
“These two Libyan nationals are on land in Tunisia... In the case of Mr Shatwan, the government decided to issue a visa to him and his family following their escape from the city of Misurata (Libya), and their arrival in Malta,” the spokesman said.
But the official government reply left Ms Grotjans even more perplexed, as she asked whether the authorities were suggesting her friends should also catch a boat to Malta.
“This is unbelievable rubbish... this is a humanitarian situation,” she protested.
Ms Grotjans knows the young men and their relatives personally, since they are old family friends. She was also their guest during a trip to Libya.
“I will be fully responsible for them. They will have a place to live and will not be knocking at the government’s door for any upkeep, nor will they be looking for work. I’m finding every single door closed and I think it’s terribly unfair,” she said.
Ms Grotjans called the Maltese embassy in Tunis and was told the embassy had instructions not to issue visas except to Tunisian nationals. Other nationals could only apply for a visa from their own country.
She resorted to the Italian embassy after an official in Tunis suggested the men try to apply through Rome, or another Schengen country, but she was told it was not possible either as these men wanted to go to Malta, not Italy.
The head of the visa unit in Malta told her the same thing: they will not issue visas unless the men apply from their own country.
Asked whether there was any way the two men may obtain a visa without having to return to their war-torn country, a ministry spokesman said they could contact the central visa unit in Malta for permission to deposit their visa application at the Tunisian embassy.
The documents would then be sent to the unit and inspected by immigration police.
The visa would only be granted once the embassy in Tunis got the go-ahead.
Told about this solution yesterday, Ms Grotjans said: “No one told me the way to do it. What they said was that the decision was final and they were not issuing visas for Libyans from Tunisia. Now they come through, at the 11th hour, with an alternative solution to save their skin.”