The Greens in the European Parliament last Monday voted in the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament to revise the Dublin regulation so that countries like Malta, which are facing disproportionate migratory pressure, benefit from a legally-binding responsibility sharing mechanism, which would allow for the reallocation of immigrants among EU countries. This will ensure that burden sharing is mandatory and not voluntary.

All Green MEPs on the committee, Jean Lambert, Johannes Voggenhuber and Margaret Auken, were present to vote in favour of this measure. One must recall that it was Ms Lambert, in her first parliamentary report on the subject around a year and a half ago, that brought up the need of a revision of the Dublin Convention, following consultations with Alternattiva Demokratika.

On the same Monday, the Civil Liberties Committee also approved Ms Lambert's report on the setting up of EASO (European Asylum Support Office) with only one vote against, that of a British Conservative. The aim of the setting up of EASO is to provide the necessary expert assistance to help in the delivery of a consistent and high quality Common European Asylum Policy.

Some progress has been made through ad hoc cooperation between member states, but this provides neither continuity of approach and ongoing support nor the development and delivery of the solidarity mechanisms that have been identified as essential in supporting member states, like Malta, facing particular pressures.

Thanks to Ms Lambert, things will change. In her report she has deleted the original reference to the "voluntary" nature of burden or responsibility sharing. Member states will benefit through the introduction of a new support office, not least in the development of mutual confidence and sharing of responsibility with smaller states like Malta.

Having said this, it is still sad to see how this migration issue is being handled by some politicians in the Nationalist Party. In order to gain a few extra votes in the upcoming European elections, certain PN exponents are distorting the facts and confusing issues in order to try and put in bad light the Greens and others. During the past weeks we have all read triumphant PN news releases stating that "Greens communists, liberals and socialists" have imposed the granting of voting rights at elections to migrants.

What blatant dishonesty! A lot of fear has been instilled in our people by omitting facts. Thanks to this barrage of PR from Brussels, the PN has managed to portray an incorrect picture of things as they stand.

First misleading fact: The word "migrants" has always been used, giving the impression that illegal and irregular migrants will be given the right to vote. Wrong. It is only legal migrants, with regular residence permits, after living a number of years in the country, who would be given the right to vote. Translated into hard facts, this means that only the Swiss, Norwegians, Canadians, Australians, Americans, South Americans, Africans, Chinese etc. living in Malta legally with legal residence would be given the right to vote.

Second misleading fact: The word "voting rights at elections" have been prevalently used. Everybody in Malta has taken this to mean that these migrants would vote at national elections. Wrong. Legal migrants would be allowed to vote only at local elections and not at national elections. Are the Maltese so scared of having the Swiss, Norwegians, Canadians, Australians, Americans, South Americans, Africans, Chinese etc. living in Malta legally with legal residence voting at the local council elections of Gudja, St Paul's Bay or Għarb?

Third misleading fact: The PN gurus have given the impression that our country would be forced to give the above-mentioned voting rights. Wrong. Each country would decide individually whether to implement this recommendation or not.

Thanks to all this misleading information wilfully transmitted to the Maltese people, the PN will probably earn a few extra hundred votes at the forthcoming elections. In order to obtain these votes it has shown no qualms in sowing the seeds of racial hatred in our country.

Hopefully, these seeds will not reap any fruit. But if they ever do, I hope that future generations of Maltese will remember the names of the "bright" politicians who were ready to sacrifice our country's social stability to the egoistic needs of their political party.

The author is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green party - and candidate for the European elections.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com, www.alternattiva.org.mt, www.arnoldcassola.wordpress.com