I am doing the rounds in our towns and villages and discussing how to make the best out of EU membership. Notwithstanding that the numbers of irregular migrants are negligible compared to the numbers legally imported from third countries, irregular migration still tops the concerns of our public. More so, I am sure, after an incident like the ship taken over by migrants last week.
Many Maltese and Gozitans feel insecure at the prospect of thousands of potential migrants coming to our shores. They are also acutely aware that, as yet, we cannot count on any safety net of European solidarity in this regard.
When asked about this topic I invariably start by asserting our values and our inalienable attachment to the right to life. Human life is sacred. Human rights are universal and inviolable. Among those rights is the right to seek asylum, to have your request treated fairly and to be granted refugee status where applicable. Then I speak of the missed opportunities in addressing irregular migration.
Barely two years ago, Malta held the EU’s rotating presidency. This was an opportunity to shape the Union’s policy agenda, putting matters of national concern on the European agenda. While time was ripe and momentum gaining ground from previous presidencies, Joseph Muscat’s government missed the opportunity to take the decisive step for European solidarity on migration, possibly partly out of our own mischief of calling an election during the presidency itself. The EU Council presidency may have been the biggest opportunity missed but it wasn’t the only one. Take the 2014 EU-Africa summit. It was an event which promised to develop the massive potential of the EU-Africa relationship into concrete initiatives, beneficial to all sides. That could have included addressing the root causes and the drivers of irregular migration across the Mediterranean.
The Maltese government did very well in organising the high-profile meeting with 36 African leaders and all our European counterparts. There was hope of breaking the deadlock on migration but it stopped there. We heard very little of any follow-up on that meeting or on that agenda for that matter. The only lasting legacy of the EU-Africa summit in the marble “knot” in Castille Square.
Intelligence reports speak of 24 million Africans ready to move North in the coming years. Malta is not yet safe from migration of biblical proportions. Should it happen in the coming years we remain an island under pressure and without any guarantees from the EU.
We remain an island under pressure and without any EU guarantees
The situation has become more pressing with the Italian government dead set on not only taking a harder line but also wanting to make a show of its more muscular politics. By framing the problem in an EU context, Muscat’s government could have won the backing of European law and a number of allies. Instead, it has chosen to take the question out of the institutional framework, negotiating every ship on its own merits, in direct contact between ministers and heads of state. This handling guarantees that migration deadlocks reach the headlines every day, antagonising public opinion in between Member States and not solving much in the longer term.
The diverging opinions on responsibilities between the Italians and Malta point to another missed opportunity by the Labour government. Let us remember that Muscat and Renzi shared a very close relationship and a political proximity within the European socialists. They governed together for almost three years – three years of opportunity to solve once and for all the diverging opinions on search and rescue and port-of-call responsibilities.
We let that opportunity slip by again, with the result that most sea crossings close to our islands now risk falling again into the legal and political limbo in between Muscat and Salvini.
Three missed opportunities in a span of a few years give Labour very little credibility on irregular migration. On the PN side we dare to propose a way ahead out of the current uncertainty. First of all we should bring the matter of search and rescue and port of call to the European table for discussion rather than try to settle responsibilities in angry tweets and replies thereto. Secondly, we must put more and more political emphasis regarding rescue responsibilities and processing and distribution of migrants on to the European institutions and their agencies, especially the Coast and Border Guard Agency and the European Asylum Support office established in Malta.
Thirdly, irregular migration flows will remain a natural and unstoppable phenomenon so long as development in Africa remains stalled for lack of financing and political instability. It is there where we should put most of our energy to solve migration flows. We should see the problem in terms of generations rather than in terms of semesters or years. Malta must do more at the European level to leverage EU spending and political clout towards an EU-Africa partnership agenda, supported by big money and at the highest level.
On May 25 we will be voting at the European elections. We must make sure to choose the candidates best able to present Malta’s cause with determination and expertise on irregular migration in the European Parliament.
The first opportunity for our elected representatives will already present itself in September, when Malta and other countries choose the European Commissioners and the designate Commission President will present portfolios. We must insist that irregular migration and Africa be given the highest priority in the new European Commission.
Malta is a natural bridge with Africa for its perils as well as for the opportunities that this presents. We must make sure to play our role to the full, not missing any other opportunities.
Dr Peter Agius, PN candidate for the European elections, is former head of the European Parliament Office and cabinet member of the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece