The government has set the ball in motion for Malta to draft a national policy on illegal immigration by publishing its proposals and findings in a document – Government Policy on Irregular Immigrants, Refugees and Integration.
This document outlines the government’s position on the issue, but Interior Minister Tonio Borg has already made it clear that, at this point, the document only contains material that the government has come up with.
He has called for all relevant stakeholders, such as the opposition, charities, the Refugee Commission and others, to come up with their own proposals to be discussed at the National Conference on Irregular Immigration – due to be held some time in February.
Dr Borg made it amply clear that the government was not simply presenting its own proposals and leaving the issue at that. He said he expected other organisations to put forward their ideas so that Malta could have a basic across-the-board policy that has been accepted by all.
He said that there was, however, one issue on which the government would not back down – the detention of irregular immigrants who do not qualify for refugee or humanitarian status. He also said that he was glad that he had the support of the opposition on the issue.
Dr Borg maintains that Malta is happy to offer
shelter and asylum to people who have come to our country to escape persecution and even death, but said that our country cannot afford to be lenient with those who come to Malta as irregular migrants.
Dr Borg said Malta had come a long way since 1998, when refugees were not even allowed to work. Nowadays, he said, refugees are allowed to work, to claim benefits and are even granted special travel
documents.
However, he also emphasised that while Malta has an obligation to shelter these people and to offer them a good standard of life, things need to be reciprocal.
Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina, who also spoke on the issue, said that asylum
seekers also have duties to perform and should work hard to integrate themselves in the Maltese way of life and culture. We firmly agree with Mrs Cristina’s
suppositions on this issue. People who shelter in our country need to work as hard as the rest of us and
fulfil their social obligations.
They need to recognise the fact that while they are free to practise whatever religion and way of life they choose to follow, they must however adapt to the Maltese way and fulfil their duties to the state that is sheltering them. When we talk about these duties, we simply mean that refugees need to try to find work and to abide by our laws and simply respect our country – and at the same time all Maltese should respect them.
This is what Mrs Cristina means by reciprocal respect and we fully agree. Illegal immigration is very much a human issue and thankfully it is being treated as such. We finally have an important issue to try the much-talked about (but not yet practised) policy of finding consensus for the greater good.
There is an opportunity here for all those concerned to voice their opinions and to offer ideas on the issue. We must remember that while Malta suffers as a result of asylum seeking, not one of us can have suffered as much as any of those who seek refugee here.
After all, these people risk life and limb to get to Europe and we have an obligation to make sure that we have a comprehensive national policy on irregular immigration to provide a proper code by which to abide in dealing with these people.