Foreign Minister Tonio Borg this morning spoke on Malta’s determination to get results from voluntary return programmes for migrants.
Speaking at a seminar which grouped people involved in this area from across the EU, Dr Borg said that besides integration and burden-sharing, a third option for dealing with the migrants situation was to take a firm stand against irregular migration and insist on the expeditious repatriation of immigrants who do not satisfy the requirements for protection under the Geneva Convention .
“A state has to be in a position not only to decide whether a foreign national is legally entitled to remain on its territory or not but also to be in a position to actually enforce the removal, if that person does not leave of his or her own accord.”
While one had to pursue a policy of enforced returns, painful as they were, the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme (known in Malta as DAR) meant a return in dignity to one's home country, with advice and assistance pre-departure and post-arrival, as well as some cash, so that the returnees could re-integrate themselves quickly in their societies and look forward to a brighter future.
European States as well as countries of origin of irregular migrants had a clear preference for voluntary return. Still, return programmes were far from being easy, with challenges all along the way, starting from that of gaining the trust of returnees, and their consent, the identification of their true identity and nationality, the cooperation of the authorities in the countries of origin through identification processes and release of travel documents.
Dr Borg said Malta was benefiting a lot from the experience and know-how of other countries which had adopted return programmes.
“We know that we have to find our own way in building effective return policies tailored to our specific conditions and we have to adapt foreign systems to our situation... We are of course on a learning curve and we will commit some mistakes along the way but we are determined to reach our target in the end.”