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In August 2003 I wrote to the Principal Immigration Officer requesting an entry visa for a Mrs Milia Milic, a 57 year old Yugoslav wife and mother who wanted to join her husband who was working here doing dangerous work on shutters. Unfortunately Mrs Milic had a black mark on the Immigration department’s book: she had been deported two years before for the grievous crime of having extended her stay in Malta by some weeks. Still, she had a right to re-apply since the time limit imposed by her deportation order had elapsed.
Although I pointed out to the Principal Immigration Officer that not granting a visa in this case could amount to a violation of the right to family life, to-date, I have not had either an acknowledgement nor a reply to my letters.
When one notes how easily many Russian women, especially those who come with the aim of entertaining men at Maltese nightclubs, seem to be obtaining entry visas from our immigration officers, while other genuine applicants like Mrs Milic are turned down, or not even acknowledged, one cannot help but observe that the immigration department is not doing its work justly and fairly.
Can one be blamed if like me, one wonders whether the immigration department is discriminating in favour of young girls. When were good looks and age among the criteria for being granted a visa?
In her article “They don’t trust us” my colleague Anna Mallia (MaltaToday April 3) states “I have never understood how women from Russia and the former Soviet Bloc make it in the prostitution business in Malta. I cannot understand how visas are issued with so much ease to these people… People want those at the visa section to be moved every three months in order to avoid any possibility of contamination”. I agree. Let’s start from the top.
Lynn Zahra LL.D
Sliema
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