Due to the divergence of opinions among EU member states, it will not be easy for the Maltese EU presidency to reach consensus on certain European legislative proposals on the table intended to address the migration crisis, the Home Affairs Minister said.
Pointing out that the EU still lacks efficiency in the area of return and readmission, Carmelo Abela said that the communication on establishing a new partnership framework with third countries under the European agenda on Migration, recently presented by the European Commission, aims to tackle the root causes of the phenomenon and is therefore a step in the right direction.
This proposal should be implemented together with the Action Plan agreed upon during last November’s Valletta Summit on Migration. The minister was speaking during a meeting with European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights director Michael O’Flaherty.
The minister expressed his concern at the increase in the number of migrant fatalities in the Mediterranean. According to the UNHCR, more than 2,500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so far in 2016. This is a significant increase, when compared to the 1,855 in the same period last year and the 57 of the year before.
Meanwhie, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has offered its support to the Home Affairs Ministry during Malta’s Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2017.
The agency will be providing legal advice and technical data, as well as through the organisation of specific joint events. One such event will centre around the presentation of the outcome of a study that the FRA is currently undertaking on the detention of immigrant children.
The research covers children in asylum, or in immigration or return procedures, in all EU member states. It focuses on detention conditions, covering such issues as access to health and education, monitoring of detention facilities, and ensuring children’s wellbeing.
Mr Abela explained that the reform that the government has carried out in respect of Malta's reception system for irregular migrants and asylum seekers was informed by humanitarian concerns, apart from national security considerations.