Five Mediterranean countries meet in Malta to tackle irregular migration
Ministerial meeting to discuss setting up 'essential' annual solidarity pool
Five Mediterranean countries are seeking to establish an annual solidarity pool as an “essential step” towards overcoming the challenges of irregular migration.
Ministers responsible for interior, migration, and asylum from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain will be convening in Cottonera on Saturday for the ninth MED5 meeting together with the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, as well as a representative from Denmark, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The high level meeting is part of the ongoing cooperation between Mediterranean front-line member states facing common challenges in irregular migration.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said Malta is “committed to a system that returns irregular migrants who are not in need of international protection to their country of origin, while upholding our obligations and values”.
Malta has reduced irregular arrivals by 93 per cent over the past five years and continues to play an active role within the European Union and the MED5 group.
“It remains essential that we work together to reach consensus and drive concrete action to stop irregular migration, dismantle the criminal networks that profit from it, and ensure a fair and balanced migration policy,” Camilleri said.
At the Malta meeting, ministers will discuss measures to reinforce the external dimension of the EU’s migration, acknowledging its central importance in addressing the challenges posed by irregular migration. Talks will focus on the implementation of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum.
Other points that will be raised include the prevention of irregular arrivals and increasing the rate of returns “voluntary where possible, enforced where necessary”.
Ministers will also discuss initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of irregular migration while pledging to disrupt smuggling networks that exploit vulnerable individuals, fuel instability, and facilitate irregular migration towards the EU.