Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo this morning said that he will resign unless the migration issue is tackled properly by the European Union which defends European people while at the same time treats the people trying to enter the EU with dignity.

In a post on Facebook, in which he said he wants to open up about his “sadness” and “frustration”, Bartolo said he considers leaving politics and spend the last years of his life reading, writing, listening to music, cooking, walking, travelling and, above all, enjoy his family.

He said he “hates racism” and any hatred towards foreigners, adding he believes in human rights for everyone.

“I do not want anyone who crosses the Mediterranean to drown. I do not want people, whoever they are, treated badly, enslaved and beaten,” he added.
But he said he wants to defend his country which “cannot continue to shoulder responsibility to take care of thousands of people sent towards Europe via Malta by traffickers and smugglers”.

“I want our colleagues at the European Union to take on this responsibility with us and take their share of the people we save in our seas,” he said.

Isn’t it possible to draw up a policy on migration that defends our people and the dignity of migrants? “If this is impossible… I will resign. This is the easiest thing,” he said. “I would solve my personal problems … and put my conscience at peace. I would live a more comfortable life. But I would not have solved anything”.

Unless the EU comes up with a new policy on migration that defends European people while at the same time showing dignity to those who want to go to Europe, human tragedies will continue.

“People will continue to drown. Human smugglers will become richer. I would be forgotten as if I never existed. But the human tragedy will continue,” he concluded.