Members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in the EP and others from across the political spectrum have signed a declaration criticising the actions of the Maltese Government in relation to the methods employed to deal with the influx of migrants in recent days.

The declaration states that under no circumstances should EU Member States consider implementing policies that have been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights, or threaten to do so, urges the Maltese government to address such concerns through diplomacy and dialogue and deplores the threat of veto use on unrelated EU measures, considers such a threat, especially prior to any negotiations, to be misguided and counterproductive. It runs counter to the spirit of the European Union.

The declaration takes note of need for greater EU solidarity with Malta on the question of illegal immigration and further states that "nations on the periphery of the European Union require greater assistance in dealing with asylum seekers, but [we] emphasise the need to use legal and ethical means to request that assistance."

"No one is denying that we have a serious problem at hand - we are a small densely populated island and thus have our limits. But human lives should not be used as bargaining chips. This behaviour tarnishes Malta's reputation and is detrimental to our cause," stated Maltese MEPs David Casa and Roberta Metsola.

Signatories to the declaration included Tunne Kelam from the EPP, Ana Gomes from the Socialist Group, Sarah Ludford from the Liberals, Jean Lambert from the Greens and Sabine Lösing from GUE/NGL.

See Declaration below

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