Maltese Member of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola has been appointed to form part of a cross-party, high-level delegation of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee of European Parliament who will visit Malta to discuss irregular immigration at the end of this month. The delegation will visit the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

In a statement welcoming the visit, MEP Metsola said that "together with the European People's Party, I have tried very hard to get this visit off the ground and am very pleased that our efforts have paid off. It is an excellent opportunity for us to show Members of the European Parliament, from across the political spectrum, just what the situation on the ground in Malta actually is and to again put across our point that the pressures faced by Malta due to irregular immigration can and should be eased by coherent, holistic European action".

Reserving special praise for the actions of Malta's Armed Forces "who risk their lives to save others in every one of these operations", MEP Metsola said that the events in the Mediterranean in recent days have shown how urgent European action in this regard is.

This visit is crucial in order for Members of the European Parliament to have first-hand experience of the situation in Member States, on the periphery of Europe that faced the responsibility of dealing with immigration influxes, such as Malta.

Addressing the European Parliament in the wake of the tragedy in Lampedusa earlier this week, MEP Metsola appealed for a move away from populism to concrete action and proposed a series of measures that the EU and its Member States should focus on to deal with irregular immigration.

"One idea would be to look further at the setting up an EU Joint Processing Centre in North Africa itself that will allow for asylum claims to be assessed already in North Africa and those genuine cases that are granted protection or refugee status will be distributed in an equal and fair manner among all Member States, including Malta.

That way people will not need to make the journey in sinking boats because they will already have the option of applying for asylum in Africa. It is a bold idea, and one we need to explore further" said MEP Metsola.

Among other measures to strengthen the fight against organised crime and bring Libya to the table, MEP Metsola also said that the EU must dedicate more development aid to countries trying to get back on their feet and continued to push for legislation that makes Member States step up to the plate and fairly share the responsibility of those already in Europe.

"There is still need to reform the Dublin II regulation that is the source of such disparity between Member States and places so much pressure on the those States, like Malta", she added.

 

The delegation will visit Malta between 29 and 30 October 2013 and will also include Austrian and Dutch MEPs from the Socialists (S&D) and the Liberals (ALDE) groups in the European Parliament. The MEPs are expected to hold talks with different stakeholders in Malta and will also hold a dialogue open to the Maltese public.