[WATCH] Malta to take in 300 asylum seekers under new relocation scheme

'EU's solidarity in action'-Home affairs • Video by Ray Attard

Among a set of proposals released by the European Commission today in its European Agenda for Migration is a relocation scheme that would see Malta taking in 300 asylum seekers over two years from Italy and Greece. The European Commission will however suspend the application of the mechanism for Malta if it experiences a sudden influx of third country nationals. 

In total, the European Commission is saying that 40,000 asylum seekers from Eritrea and Syria should be relocated to EU member states to help Italy and Greece cope with migration demands. Member states would receive €6,000 for every asylum seeker they take in under the relocation scheme.

But while there are a million people waiting to cross from Libya into Europe, the 40,000 proposal reflects just 40% of the migrant crossings experienced in the Mediterranean last year.

"This is a first step in the right direction. We won't be euphoric about it and one must remember that this is not a plan in isolation. This is an emergency mechanism to help the countries most affected by the crisis," Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told a news conference.

The minister said Malta was still analysing the figures proposed in the distribution key and the details of the criteria: "Our share will be of around 145 every year for two years. But when one compares the migrant number see had in the past, there's no comparison. We have to be consistent in our position and just like in the past we have called for solidarity among member states, we are in a position to help Italy."

He reiterated that if Malta then faces a sudden influx, the same help provided to Italy and Greece will be given to Malta.

The proposal has yet to be approved - or rejected - by the European Council. Abela is however confident that a qualified majority exists.

Abela defended a Commission proposal to pay member states receiving people fleeing war on persecution in Eritrea and Syria, insisting that it wasn't in conflict with EU's statements of solidarity: "We definitely didn't experience any solidarity in the past, even when similar schemes offering funds were proposed. This plan is important and we shouldn't criticise it because of the funds ... Giving money to the states for their help doesn't make it incompatible with solidarity."

In his opening remarks, the home affairs minister said that Malta's position on migration was being felt. He pointed towards the EU's holistic plan to target human smugglers and a longer term plan for action in the countries of origin.

Abela said it was the member states' wish to see Libya part of the process. He also said that talks were ongoing over a UN Security Council resolution approving a military action targeting human smugglers.

Asked about confidential documents leaked by WikiLeaks, where military defence chiefs clearly stated that the political End State of Libya was not clearly defined, Abela said that the "European Commission was working so that its military experts find a solution to what the member states have agreed to at a political message".

He denied any knowledge that the military action purportedly targeting smugglers is intended at spilling over into Libya - as revealed by the leaked documents: "I am not informed that the action could go beyond the human traffickers and we have no intention of getting involved in something beyond this operation."

‘Malta should have been included with Greece and Italy’ – PN

The Nationalist Party said that Malta should have been included with Italy and Greece in the EC’s proposal.

“Nonetheless it is a first step and an acknowledgment that this is a European challenge that deserves a European response by every Member State acting in solidarity,” deputy PN leader Beppe Fenech Adami, MEP Roberta Metsola, and MP Francis Zammit Dimech said in a joint statement. “We hope that this will signal the beginning of a reform of EU rules on migration and asylum that would mean that Mediterranean countries are no longer faced with a disproportionate responsibility once people are rescued from the sea.”

They called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to safeguard Malta's interests within the European Council and achieve tangible results for the country.

“Equally, we expect every Member State to act in solidarity and to live up to its responsibilities,” the PN spokespeople said. “This is what the whole concept of co-responsibility is all about and this is the time when all the member states must walk the talk and share between them the responsibility that pertains to all the members of the European Union.”