An immigration officer at Malta International Airport has raised the alarm about gaps in the system he fears could be exploited by people wanting to breach the Schengen visa-free area.

“I have noticed a number of cases involving Algerians and other nationalities in which I am morally convinced that the people being granted entry to Malta were not bona fide.

“Unfortunately, if the traveller meets the visa requirements, the direction from above is usually to allow them entry,” Johan Mula told Times of Malta.

Mr Mula, who happens to be Labour’s deputy mayor for Safi, took to Facebook to flag the problem. He was reacting to a story which reported Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right party le Front National, asking French President Francois Hollande to suspend the visa-free Schengen area in Europe in the wake of the Paris attacks last week.

The Shengen system is not working in its present form. It’s not safe

“Naqbel 100% Le Pen,” [I agree 100 per cent with Le Pen] Mr Mula wrote, arguing that Malta was being used as an entry point by Algerians wanting to go to France.

“They come here on the pretext of a vacation in Malta but their true destination is France. My colleagues and I at the immigration department tried several times to stop this abuse but, unfortunately, the orders from above were always to let them in… those who issued these orders can assume responsibility for them,” he said.

When contacted yesterday, Mr Mula was keen to point out that he did not mean that the Algerians he was talking about were terrorists or that they had anything to do with what happened in Paris.

“I have to say that the Shengen system is not working in its present form. It’s not safe, that is what I meant to say,” he said. He argued that, as things stand, the immigration officers, who are the front line and by far the most experienced people in the department in the scanning of incoming travellers, are supervised and often overruled by police officers who did not always have equivalent experience.

“Police officers who form the second line are often changed, so the experience pool among them is always limited.

“Moreover, the ultimate decision on whether to block entry is taken by [police] inspectors at the Floriana depot, over the phone. The system does not make sense, you have to be there in the presence of the person, see his or her body language to be able to make such a call,” he said.

“This obviously does not apply to all passengers coming from places like Algeria, of course. We get a lot of bona fide travellers and even tourists but there are problems,” he insisted.

Sources at the department who wished to remain anonymous corroborated Mr Mula’s assessment, arguing that there were chronic problems in the field that were never addressed.

You have to be there in the presence of the person, see his or her body language

Technically speaking, the Schengen area – a visa-free area embracing 26 European countries – has nothing to do with the Paris attacks because its perpetrators were all French nationals.

However, the matter has been a big security concern, not only for the far right across Europe but also for many security analysts. The UK and Ireland, for instance, maintain their opt-out from the system on the grounds of such concerns.

“The problems are not only in Malta. I have seen people travel to Malta who should have been checked more thoroughly elsewhere but who weren’t and, at that stage, you cannot stop them.

“However, I feel we need to be more rigorous,” Mr Mula said, arguing that immigration officers often made their point when they believed they had a case “but there is only so much you can do”.

“I’m not saying we are perfect or that we do not make mistakes but the system in place is not satisfactory,” he said.

Mr Mula found himself in the eye of controversy before the 2013 election: a secret recording surfaced in which Labour deputy leader Toni Abela said Mr Mula – who was at the time president of the Safi Labour club – had seen a person cutting up a “white block” in the club kitchen.

Mr Mula had given a statement to the party leadership which led to the sacking of the club’s barman.

However, the matter was never reported to the police and remained under wraps up to the release of the recording.

The police investigated but did not proceed against anyone as it is not illegal not to report a crime.