‘Malta needs help to effectively integrate migrants’ – Minister

Integration by its very nature a process which depends on both State and beneficiary, according to Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.

During an opening address given this morning at a day-seminar about integration and asylum procedures, organised by the Refugee Commissioner, Mallia said although there is indeed space for such integration in Malta, the country needed the assistant of other countries, including other EU member states.

Mallia said that due to Malta's limitations, it could only effectively integrate in the medium- to long-term a limited number of beneficiaries of international protection.

"Integration-oriented programmes and assistance have been provided by the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers, mainly through the utilisation of EU funding opportunities. Programmes provided have addressed language skills, employability and cultural orientation; all being prerequisites to adapt to a different society and to changing circumstances," he said.

He added that integration also carried a second dimension - that of the migrant or beneficiary. "Whilst integration presumes that the migrant would retain his or her cultural and ethnic background, it also requires an understanding and respect for the values of the host society," Mallia said.

However, the ability to effectively integrate is also influenced by other factors, he said, including the economic and geo-physical realities of the host state.

"In Malta's case, the main practical hurdles to the integration process are imposed by its natural limitations, including its relatively small labour market, its small territory and high population density."

He said the Maltese government had called for assistance in the form of resettlement and intra-EU relocation, and had received some assistance from the US and a number of EU member states. 

"However, it cannot be denied that more assistance is needed from our partners in the EU. This is particularly true today, at a point when the European Union is setting up a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and when a European Asylum Support Office is in place."

He said for the CEAS to be truly successful, beneficiaries of international protection required equal opportunities to integrate in their host societies.

"This cannot be achieved if some member states continue to be exposed to disproportionate pressures," he said.

"It is to be recalled that according to UNHCR statistics over the period 2008-2012 Malta received no less than 21.7 asylum applicants per 1,000 inhabitants, the largest figure for any EU Member State and industrialised country worldwide."