The government should not fear taking a firm stand on illegal immigration to safeguard the national interest just as other European countries were doing, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
“We heard many things from the Italians but when it came to the crunch, they safeguarded their interests... In the light of all this, the Maltese government should not hold back from doing the same,” Dr Muscat said on the party’s One Radio.
He said Italy refused a Maltese patrol boat with 171 rescued migrants on to berth at Lampedusa last week and, as a result, they had to be brought to Malta.
Other countries, including France and Germany, were safeguarding their own national interests. While always respecting human dignity, the Maltese government should do the same to safeguard the national interest as it was “obliged” to do, Dr Muscat said. The PL would fully support the government if it took such a stand, he added.
So far, there were only “empty” words of solidarity from the EU. “If the government is happy with Germany taking in 100 immigrants, I’m not. That is tokenism,” Dr Muscat said. The PL wanted the country to defend its interests without any “interference”. “There should be clear rules of engagement and that is where the EU comes in,” he insisted.
Dr Muscat queried the role of the EU’s border control agency, Frontex, and the recently set up asylum agency, saying these were using taxpayers’ money but were not combating the migration crisis from Libya.
Turning to the 2,800 individuals who were ineligible to vote in the divorce referendum next month, Dr Muscat said these could have done so by simply delaying the publication of the President’s writ. It had been agreed to postpone the publication of the writ but the Electoral Commission changed its mind because the Prime Minister put pressure on his commissioners, Dr Muscat said. The majority of electoral commissioners, including a Nationalist Party appointee, had originally voted in favour of postponing the publication of the writ, he said. That would have meant the April electoral register would have been used for the divorce referendum instead of the October one.
The Parliamentary resolution to hold the divorce referendum had given President George Abela a fortnight – up to the end of March – to sign the writ. If the PN truly wanted the young voters to participate in the referendum, then the publication of the writ could have been delayed to April 18, Dr Muscat said. However, the Prime Minister, who had not amended the motion moved in Parliament but actually seconded it, claimed such arrangement would have set a precedent. But he had no problem in extending voting time by one hour during the last election, Dr Muscat recalled.
Dr Muscat’s comments on immigration were harshly criticised by both the PN and Alternattiva Demokratika.
Human tragedy required “sensitivity” and not “populist speeches”, the PN said. “While Malta is firm where required and works with the EU, it can’t close its eyes when people are drowning as Dr Muscat implied,” it said.
On the referendum, the PN said that, in moving the motion in Parliament, Dr Muscat was the one who decided when the writ would be signed.
AD called for solidarity and responsibility sharing in the case of immigration. “It is appalling that a potential Prime Minister like Joseph Muscat can come up with cynical suggestions that go against the basic natural law and international law,” EU spokesman Arnold Cassola said.