The Opposition should submit to the police any allegations of wrongdoing in the granting of visas to Algerian nationals, the Prime Minister said this evening.

He was replying to questions in parliament, hours after PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami asked at a press conference  whether and when the police were informed of the allegations.

“The fact that nearly 7,000 visas were granted by Malta  in 18 months should be enough to raise questions,” Dr Fenech Adami said.

The PN deputy leader also asked when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and foreign affairs minister George Vella were informed of the allegations.

“Rather than giving us answers, the Prime Minister has remained silent in the face of a scandal that is damaging our national reputation and undermining our national security and that of other European countries,” Dr Fenech Adami said. 

ALLEGATIONS SHOULD BE REFERRED TO POLICE - MUSCAT

Dr Muscat said he did not feel it proper, as prime minister, to ask the police whether they had received such allegations. The duty of the police was to act independently and to investigate allegations made to them.

He said one heard allegations and rumours practically about all of Malta's consulates, often by people who were themselves refused a visa or had some interest. Allegations made to the government were referred to the police, and the opposition should do likewise.  

One of the first allegations he had heard, Dr Muscat said, was about the Maltese consulate in Libya. But no evidence was found.

Dr Muscat said the government was unaware of any wrongdoing with regard to visas granted in Algeria. 

He also pointed out that the number of visa applications rose as Malta opened itself to the world. The process that Malta followed was that applications were entered into the Schengen System. If there were adverse remarks, the application was flagged and a visa was not issued. 

Foreign Minister George Vella said in Parliament last Friday that he had no information of any wrongdoing, and that only half of the Algerian visa applicants were granted one.

Also addressing the press earlier today, PN immigration spokesman Francis Zammit Dimech called attention to the “enormous scale” of the problem.
He said the government had an obligation to investigate and to assure the Maltese public and the international community that the issuance of visas was not putting the country at risk and that no corruption was involved in the process.