Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil believes there is no doubt that a “massacre” is taking place in Libya, which can possibly verge on “genocide”.
The possibility of an influx of immigration should be secondary to the human tragedy unfolding, Dr Busuttil said as he thanked the Maltese for being mature enough to recognise this.
“My first priority is the massacre going on in Libya. Although we cannot verify everything we hear, there is no doubt a massacre is taking place,” he said during a foreign affairs parliamentary committee meeting yesterday.
“And if the numbers we are hearing are true, and if the methods being reported are really being used, such as jet fighters being used against the people, we are not only talking about a massacre but also about genocide.”
He thanked the Maltese authorities for ensuring the safety of their people in Libya and the opposition for taking a “serious stand” of cooperation on this issue.
“(But) while Malta’s position is what it should be, I feel we should be totally clear about our position regarding the loss of human life and murder of people which is intolerable in today’s world,” he said, appreciating the Prime Minister’s condemnation without reservations of the violence.
Although he held back from offering solutions, he wondered whether an end to the massacre would require military intervention, pointing out that such issues were being raised in the EU.
Dr Busuttil said he was recently on a radio programme where he was pleasantly surprised that all the callers expressed concern about the situation in Libya rather than the threat of immigration. “As politicians, we should learn from this maturity.”
Malta was being exemplary in helping foreigners evacuate Libya. “But let us not fall into the moral trap of refusing Libyans escaping Libya. We need to help form public opinion so as not to let people think it is OK to help foreigners leave Libya but that we do not want Libyans who are trying to escape the same dangers because they are immigrants.”
Dr Busuttil stressed he was not calling on Malta to open up all its doors. But he expected all those countries, currently sending vessels and planes to evacuate their nationals, to also help evacuate refugees if the need arose.
The European Parliament, he added, had called for an urgent meeting next week so that the authorities, including the director of Frontex, could explain their plans in case of such a humanitarian emergency.