EU Migration Policy under fire from NGO’s

Amnesty International criticised the European Union for failing to support Malta as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Africa at a symposium in Berlin on Monday.

The island of Malta is best known as a holiday destination, but in recent years has received more than 7, 000 illegal migrants who arrive by boat from the shores of northern Africa. This number may seem small compared to the 37, 000 ?boat people? who reach Spain and the 22, 000 that wash up on Italian shores each year, but Malta?s 400,000 inhabitants are already crowded and jobs are scarce.

Migrants from so called ?safe? origins, such as Morocco or Egypt, are deported upon arrival, while the rest are placed in detention centres until their cases are evaluated. Many must wait for up to a year before they are released and allowed to move to open centres or tent cities, however even those that are granted humanitarian protection are not allowed to leave the country. ?There is the fear that if Malta provided better accommodation even more people would come? said Red Cross director Sylvia Galea.

The Maltese government begged the EU for assistance last week in the wake of a new wave of refugees. ?The situation right now is a complete mess? said Interior Minister Tonio Borg when a group of immigrants were left in high seas for days after their boat capsized while Mediterranean nations argued over who was responsible for them.

Following the Army?s detention of another 28 illegal immigrants on Wednesday the total held this year has now reached 700 and Malta?s government now refuses to let in any more refugees. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that he recognised the "special difficulty" Malta faced from illegal immigration but Europe is struggling to find ways to help Malta handle the problem.

AI said that EU countries still have capacities for immigration and called for a European wide asylum policy guided by humanitarian principles.

Human rights group European Council for Refugees in Exile (ECRE) spokesperson Richard Williams agreed with AI saying that ?there are huge capacities within the EU to absorb more people in need of help?. He also called for an easing of immigration laws across Europe.

It is important to offer perspectives for legal migration if we are to fight illegal immigration said the undersecretary of the German interior ministry, Peter Altmaier, ?we also need a very strong humanitarian signal that we cannot allow people to die in the Mediterranean Sea?.

The EU has responded by sending it?s external border agency, Frontex, with it?s 100 vessels and 50 aircraft vehicles to patrol Malta?s waters. AI is not impressed by their response as they believe that Frontex commanders follow a policy that favours keeping refugee boats out of territorial waters rather than one that guarantees their safety.