[WATCH] ‘Need for migrant return policy sounded loud and clear’ – Muscat

EU leaders at the Valletta summit were all in agreement over the need for a joined policy of repatriation of failed asylum seekers, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

“Today’s talks were the first true time that the EU was putting its money where its mouth is,” Muscat told a press conference after the first of two sets of negotiations.

“The need for a return policy has become mainstream amongst European leaders, and we sounded the message loud and clear to Africa tonight.

“No EU leader is in favour of a free-for-all migration policy. We just agree, with different tones, on the need to regulate our borders.”

He said that sticking points include the possible creation of an EU identification document to be recognized by African countries, and the respect of human rights shown to returning migrants.

Muscat highlighted the need for further investment in Africa as outlined in a draft action plan. He said that Malta and Shanghai Electric, the Chinese company that partly owns Enemalta, intend to set up a joint energy investment venture in Africa, similar to an ongoing project in Montenegro.

He warned that the logic behind a recently agreed relocation mechanism by the EU for migrants in Greece and Italy could run counter to EU freedom of movement rules. “Ultimately, we cannot stop migrants relocated to EU countries travelling to other countries,” he said.

When asked whether the EU-Africa summit has been held too late, given that most asylum seekers were currently entering Europe from western Asian countries, Muscat said that “getting it right with Africa could be the base for discussions with other nations.”

“Migration flows have changed several times over the past decade, and it is a pressure cooker that has got to give at some time,” he said.

“This is a generational phenomenon, and despite criticism aired at the EU for not doing enough to tackle it, it remains the only group of countries in the world trying to do something collectively about it.”