Egyptian authorities warn against illegal immigration to Malta
By MaltaMedia News
Oct 7, 2005, 09:39 CET

The Egyptian authorities have admitted that the number of attempts for illegal immigration by Egyptian nationals has increased and Malta is the most common destination.

The Kuwait news Agency KUNA reports that however the same authorities have warned their citizens of the dangers of such immigration without the necessary legal documentation.

This statement was made a few days after Malta repatriated to Egypt some 70 illegal immigrants. These were part of a 140-strong boatload of illegal immigrants that made it to the Maltese shores of Cirkewwa on Friday last week. The rest of the immigrants are expected to be repatriated too.

Forced repatriation by Malta in the past has caused a wave of protests from human rights groups. Amnesty International was at the forefront in the condemnation of the repatriation of hundreds of Eritrean illegal immigrants in October 2002.

The Maltese Government is currently negotiating repatriation agreements with Libya, on the same lines of the agreement between Libya and Italia. Libya is thought to be the main point of departure of thousands of illegal immigrants, hundreds of which make it regularly to the Maltese shores oin their way to what they think is a better future in Europe.

http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/eu/ ... 7514.shtml

EU delegation to investigate Malta’s crisis of illegal immigratio
By MaltaMedia News
Sep 27, 2005, 15:37 CET

A European Parliament delegation is expected to visit Malta to investigate the country’s serious problem of illegal immigration, following an appeal made by PN Member of Parliament David Casa to the Committee for Civil Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. He stated that Malta’s crisis should be given priority.

David Casa stated that this decision is very important both for Malta and for the illegal immigrants. He is expected to hold more meetings with the Committee’s Vice President Stefano Zappala’ to finalise details for the visit.

Meanwhile, during a plenary session of the European Parliament, Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil called on non-EU countries such as Libya, to shoulder their responsibility on the issue of illegal immigration. Dr Busuttil insisted that a common European policy of solidarity should be set up so that the burden is shared among all.

Dr Busuttil welcomed moves towards a genuinely common European immigration and asylum policy saying that until now, countries such as Malta, had been left to fend for themselves and were facing a national crisis with the influx of irregular immigrants.

He said that in order to move towards a common policy one should not just look into which obligations should be carried by each country but also into how the burden could be collectively shared by all. Unfortunately, he said, Europe was still far from a situation where the burden of the problem of immigration is shared equally among all and there are countries, which carry a burden greater than they could shoulder.

Dr Busuttil appealed for a realistic approach stating that the burden should not just be shouldered by European countries but also by countries of origin of immigrants as well as by transit countries, such as Libya.

"How can we ensure that countries of origin, especially safe countries, co-operate with us? And how can we ensure that transit countries, such as Libya, shoulder their obligations, not least by entering into repatriation agreements? These are the questions that we should be asking", Dr Busuttil said.

He added that the EU needed to approach this problem in a holistic manner especially when it came to classifying third countries as "safe" or "super-safe" countries.

Dr Busuttil said that he favoured a common European policy, "however this must be a policy of solidarity where the burden is shared among all and a policy that is coherent and insistent with third countries so that they too carry their responsibility."

He concluded by appealing to the Socialist and Green groups in the European Parliament not to make unrealistic demands and not to add more burdens on member states. "Otherwise," he said, "we should not be surprised if the Council ignores us.�