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  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. 

“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.

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