Updated 9pm with AFM statement

Human rights conventions penned 80 years ago need to be reformed to reflect today's realities when it comes to irregular migration, Robert Abela told parliament on Monday.

The prime minister was addressing calls for clarification over comments in recent days that Malta will be putting a human rights convention reform on the agenda of its upcoming Council of Europe presidency.

The commitment was made during a meeting on migration on the fringes of an EU summit held in Brussels last week. 

Abela has since been asked to clarify his comments, with Momentum's chair Arnold Cassola among others saying the comments raised serious suspicion that what the prime minister had in mind was a dilution of conventions to facilitate "moves that right-wing governments in Europe are undertaking to ride roughshod over human rights provisions when tackling the migration issue".

On Monday Abela said Malta had recently "drastically" decreased irregular arrivals. After years of being left alone to deal with the issue, most EU leaders were nowadays taking a similar approach to that of Malta on the matter, he told MPs.

“It is clear that the biggest problem is the failure of the effective return of those who don't qualify for asylum.

“There are several circumstances in the EU where migrants who have no right to asylum, or are involved in crime, cannot be returned to their home country because of legal loopholes,” he said. Abela added that Malta would remain at the forefront of fighting for human rights, as long as they were "merited".

The prime minister insisted that past conventions did not reflect modern challenges: among others, the intensification of irregular migration in Europe in recent decades could not have been envisaged by those who drew up a convention in 1947. 

Abela noted that, among others, Italy was challenging the interpretation of what constituted a safe country of return: a country where only 5% of its territory was considered unsafe should not be considered totally unsafe. Malta was backing Italy in the matter, he said. 

In his address, he referred to the PN's request for clarification over the matter as a "mediocre attempt to attack" him, saying the Opposition was attempting to capitalise on a sensitive topic. 

Reacting, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said that describing a request for clarification as an attack showed how insecure Abela was.

He accused the government of failing to process a backlog of requests by people who had sought asylum in Malta years ago. 

He also referred to Abela's comments that Malta will not invest in, or borrow money to buy weapons of war after EU leaders earlier this month rallied around Ukraine and agreed to boost the bloc's defences at a crisis summit.

EU's leaders have greenlit a plan drawn up by the European Commission that aims to mobilise €800 billion to "re-arm Europe" against the perceived threat from Russia.

Grech insisted there were other ways for a country to invest in defence apart from purchasing weapons and ammunition, such as using EU funds to invest in police, airport security, automated fingerprint identification system, rigid hub inflatable boats, bulletproof vests and control room upgrades. 

Earlier, Abela said that while Malta continued to support Kiev, it was calling for peace through a pragmatic approach that should involve Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the US.

AFM liaison officer in Ukraine military mission

In reply to questions PN MP Darren Carabott, who asked whether Malta was participating in the European Union Military Assistance Mission Ukraine, Abela said Malta had sent an Armed Forces of Malta official to act as “a liaison officer between the UK, who is running the training, and the EU".

He said the AFM's official's role was of an administrative nature, adding that no Maltese was involved in training in Ukraine. 

"Our soldiers will not participate in other people's wars".

When Carabott clarified that the mission provided "substantial political, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine", Abela asked him to submit the question in writing.

Fielding questions from PN MP Mario DeMarco over recognising the Palestinian state, Abela said that while the Nationalist party had not done so in 25 years, a PL government had stated its intention of recognising the Palestinian state "at the right moment".

Meanwhile, answering questions about whether the government considered Libya a safe place, Abela referred to proceedings in which the government had to keep newly arrived migrants on boats off Malta in 2020 when the pandemic had taken the world by storm.

If Malta is found guilty of breaching human rights in that case, then he would be proud that he safeguarded the wellbeing of the Maltese while saving lives during a most challenging time, he said.

Addressing the PN MPs, Abela said Malta had recently witnessed the lowest number of migrant arrivals because the island had worked with the country of origin and prevented departures. 

“I know you don't agree with us but that is our policy, whether you like it or not. That policy is the policy that worked.

“When you're in government if you want to open the doors to everyone - whether merited or not - do as you want.”

'No Maltese soldier training soldiers in Ukraine': AFM

The AFM said in a statement late on Monday that no Maltese soldier was training soldiers in Ukraine.

The AFM had just one official stationed in the UK whose role was of an administrative nature: he was facilitating communication between the UK and the EU, as one of the mission's aims was to provide humanitarian assistance, the army said.

"It was a conscious decision by the AFM and the Maltese authorities" that the official would be the sole one in the mission.

Malta's assistance to Ukraine is solely humanitarian, the AFM added.