Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-03-Speech-1-080"
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"en.20060403.9.1-080"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, last week a delegation from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs went to Malta, just as in the past it had gone to Paris, Ceuta and Melilla and Lampedusa.
We all need to be aware of and sensitive to this issue. Rumours are one thing and facts are another. The immigration situation in Europe is certainly not pleasant, appealing or suitable. It is not suitable for the year 2006, for the European Union and its principles, for the Treaties or for the political responsibilities that we, as the European Parliament, have towards the peoples of Europe.
The Commission is skirting around the issue: first I heard talk of initiatives worth EUR 25 000 or EUR 120 000. Commissioner, I should like to inform you that Malta, on the contrary, spends an annual sum of EUR 1 million on this problem. Since 2002, or from its pre-accession phase until now, that country has recorded an increase in the immigration rate and now finds itself with as many as 2 000 more people than it knows what to do with. The 2 000 people in Malta could be the equivalent of 400 000 people held in the national prisons of Germany, or even 300 000 people in the national prisons in Italy, France and the United Kingdom. In order to keep a check on the immigrants, Malta employs 10% of its police force, which would amount to employing 30 000 people if it were Italy or 40 000 people if it were Germany; in other words, all of the law enforcement personnel put together. That is not possible.
Commissioner – although here I address the Council most of all – we have a precise duty: we cannot abandon our Member States and, above all, we cannot abandon Malta in the middle of the sea because, in actual fact, that country is Europe’s most southerly border. It is the border of Europe. From that perspective, Malta cannot be regarded as an autonomous State.
The European Union needs to take all appropriate measures in that regard. Commissioner, I call on you to convene an internal affairs council in Malta as soon as possible, before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
At present, Malta is enduring some extremely serious situations: it has 2 000 people that it does not know where to send and that can only be sent to Gozo, and taking that course of action would mean making an already extremely serious situation even worse. We are making the people of Malta regret what they have done, even though they do not want to, since Malta is a resolutely pro-European country. Xenophobia is starting to emerge in Malta, and that is a very serious state of affairs.
As Parliament, we have a duty to accept political responsibility. I urge the Council to move quickly and to revise the Dublin Convention. Malta must be a transit country. People today do not want to go to Malta in order to remain there; people pass through and stop in Malta merely to take refuge. I call on you all to support Malta.
As chance would have it, the President of Malta will be here the day after tomorrow, and I am very pleased about that. I hope that this Parliament gives all due support to this great, ancient and noble nation that is suffering because of mistakes that we have made."@en1
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