Irregular immigration addressed in heated debate

Malta could not afford to accept economic migrants and had therefore taken a middle-of-the-road approach in dealing with illegal immigrants, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.

Speaking during a heated debate at the university, Dr Borg stressed the importance of protecting those who needed protection, while being firm with those who did not.

The debate - Immigrants And Refugees: What Way Forward? - was held as part of the activities for Human Rights Day 2004 being marked today and was organised as part of the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji's Human Rights Fair held yesterday and today.

The minister said statistics showed that about 53 per cent of applications for refugee status were approved. This, he said, was the highest approval rate among all European countries. "To assume that the 47 per cent who are not granted protection still deserve protection is unfair. Most are just looking for a better economic future," he said.

Dr Borg said there were currently 1,400 migrants of about 20 different nationalities. Half of them, he said, were in detention, while the others had been released because they were granted either refugee status or humanitarian protection. The minister explained that the past two years saw 3,500 irregular migrants landing on Maltese shores, most of whom came from Sub-Saharan countries.

The minister said a first decision on a refugee application was taken after four to six months, which he described as not excessive. A law giving the right to detainees to apply for provisional liberty was expected to come into force next month, he said.

But the local situation was slammed by Moviment Graffiti representative André Callus, who said it could no longer be accepted.

"These people are living in very bad conditions. This is going against fundamental human rights. People seeking protection are being sent to a detention centre where conditions are worse than in prison," he said.

Mr Callus said Malta was obliged to help these people and the movement was strongly against detention but advocated the use of open centres.

"We have a situation where people seem to hate asylum seekers and this could be stemming from some political speeches," he said.

Mr Callus' comments did not seem to have gone down too well with his audience and most of those present started shouting as he spoke.

He referred to the case of Eritrean citizens who were deported from Malta in 2002. He said those who took the decision to repatriate them should be judged for not preventing torture.

Dr Borg said that the Eritreans were refused protection both by the Refugee Commissioner and by the refugee appeals board. Most of them did not apply for protection in spite of the fact that UNHCR representatives came to Malta to look into their case.

With regard to Mr Callus' suggestion that asylum seekers should be kept in open centres, Dr Borg said the government provided two open centres where between 400 and 500 people stayed while others were homed in open centres belonging to non-governmental organisations. The minister appealed to NGOs to offer accommodation, adding that it was not enough just to make statements.

One member of the public suggested that Church schools should house asylum seekers in the summer months when the schools were closed.

Another complained that if the asylum seekers were genuine they would have a passport. "They pay thousands to come here, so we should not think they are poor," he said.

He said the situation was not sustainable and 99 per cent of irregular migrants were economic refugees. "These people are stealing our social benefits," he said.

However, Dr Borg was quick to reply that although Malta was an island, it should not be insular. He said the idea that Malta should come first and that charity began at home needed to be tackled carefully.

The objector then continued: "Isn't Africa big enough for them?" To this Dr Borg explained that a proposal had been made for open centres to be set up in Libya to keep migrants there until their request for asylum was granted. However, Mr Callus asked how could one propose open centres in Libya when "we all know the conditions in the country". This was not received well by those present, some of whom shouted out "racist".

Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Mallia, who was representing the Armed Forces of Malta, said setting camps in Africa reduces the risk of people getting lost at sea.