Malta repatriated 3,020 migrants since 2004

Over 3,000 immigrants were repatriated between 2004 and the end of November, including 968 Egyptians, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

The spokesman said that following an influx of migrants from Egypt in 2004 and 2005, Malta repatriated 212 and 426 immigrants respectively. In 2006, it repatriated 309, three were repatriated in 2007 and 18 by the end of November last year. There are two Egyptians still in detention and one is in the process of being repatriated.

The information was released after Italy repatriated 38 Egyptians with Italian Homes Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni saying his country was facing an emergency and would be sending back illegal immigrants who arrived on its shores.

Speaking in a radio interview earlier this week, Dr Maroni said that joint Italian-Libyan patrols along the Libyan coastline will begin in January. He said that once the patrols start, landings in Lampedusa would become a thing of the past.

Reacting to this, the Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said Malta stands to gain tremendously, more so if the entire Libyan coast is monitored. In 2008, all the 84 boats, carrying a total of 2,775 illegal migrants, intercepted in Maltese territorial waters departed for Europe from Libyan shores.

The Italian-Libyan joint patrols are the fruit of an agreement struck between the two countries and which was signed by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in August.

The issue of patrolling the Libyan coast has long been a sticking point between Libya and the EU's southern member states, including Malta and Italy.

Once patrols within Libyan territorial waters start, migrant vessels found departing from Libya would be turned back to shore. Last weekend, Lampedusa saw an influx of 2,400 migrants, which led the Italian government to declare a state of emergency. On Monday, Malta received 139 migrants, 10 of whom were pregnant women.

Italy and Malta have received alarming numbers of migrants this year. Landings on the Italian coast rose by 55 per cent this year and those in Malta were up by 58 per cent over 2007. That year, Malta received 1,702 migrants on 68 boats.

It is evident that the final destination of these migrants is not Malta but Italy. To this end, Malta's detention policy is working in its favour because would-be migrants know that if they come to Malta they would be locked up for 18 months whereas in Italy, the maximum detention period is three months.

On January 13, representatives of the Quadro Group are expected to meet in Prague. The Quadro Group was set up by Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece. The group's first meeting was held at the end of November. Since then, experts met to draft the group's policy document, which is considered as the first concrete step towards the drawing up of a common front within the EU on the issue of irregular migration.