From Ms J. Micallef

I could not help but utter “here we go again” when I read that Libya has once again refused to allow Frontex to patrol the seas nearer to its coast.

Our government prefers to keep us in the dark regarding negotiations about this very important national issue, known as illegal immigration. Therefore, I cannot know the real reason behind Libya’s change of policy.

The last news we heard was that the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi seemed to have agreed to Frontex patrols, as long as they were entrusted to Malta and Italy and implied collaboration with Libya.

As a Maltese citizen, who pays her dues to the country, I expect our government to brief us in a proper manner on this issue of national importance. I wish to know how the patrols plan to operate and what will happen if Libya does not co-operate.

We, the Maltese people, have a right to know what our government is doing to help prevent the ruin that awaits our country if nothing tangible is ever done to prevent, year after year, more thousands of African migrants reaching our shores.

May I remind our government that the Libyan leader’s views on migration were made clear to all, when at a conference last November, he stated: “Political borders, official papers and identities set for every group of people are new, artificial things not recognised by nature. Land is the property of everyone, and God commands all human beings to migrate on earth to seek a living, which is their right.”

Joanne Micallef

TA l-IBRAG