Busuttil praises ‘more civilized’ migration debate in Malta

Opposition leader says government should have been more 'forceful' in insiting that Malta be included along with Italy and Greece in EU migrant relocation scheme

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil

The public debate on immigration in Malta has become “more civilized and less hysterical” in recent years, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said.

Speaking at a Euro-Med conference organized by Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola, Busuttil said that this is both due to the dwindling in migrant arrivals since Italy launched its Mare Nostrum operation in 2013, and due to a shift in tone from the government.

“In Opposition, Labour used to say that Malta could renege on its international obligations,” Busuttil said. Even when in government, it had flirted with the idea of pushbacks. Their tone is now much more similar to the previous government’s two years ago, which is pleasing.”

He also said that the national immigration debate should not be a partisan one.

“I think that people have had enough of it, and I think we should discuss it in a civilized manner, rather than one focused on netting votes,” Busuttil said. “This doesn’t mean that the Opposition are willing to shut up, but that we are willing to engage. However, it takes two to tango and we expect the government to negotiate with the Opposition on immigration. Unfortunately they haven’t yet done so, despite the contribution we can offer.”

He said that he was disappointed that the EU will only relocate migrants from Italy and Greece and not Greece.

“This was on the dubious grounds that Malta hasn’t accepted many migrants in recent years,” he said. “Malta is an island and migrants who arrive cannot easily free to other European countries and this fact, along with our high population density wasn’t taken into account when drawing up the relocation key.”

He expressed his disappointment that the EU’s recently-agreed migrant relocation scheme will not be a mandatory one, and insisted that the Maltese government should have been “more forceful” in insisting that Malta be included in the relocation mechanism, along with Italy and Greece.

“I hope the government doesn’t give up, because if it does then Malta will find itself in the ironic situation whereby it will now have to accept migrants from Italy and Greece,” Busuttil said.

“While it’s a step in the right direction, I believe that a true mechanism should be based on solidarity or on nothing at all.”

He also criticised European leaders for taking a populist approach when debating immigration.

“They end up bickering over who should accept the migrants, which is not a nice sight and not a nice debate to listen to,” Busuttil admitted. “I can only imagine how the debate is in the far-right European parties.”

“Some mainstream political parties in the EPP and the S&D have fallen into the trap of populist arguments when talking about immigration. However, mainstream parties can never be as populist as the like of Marine le Pen and the like. They therefore cannot win this debate by being populist, but by being reasonable.”  

“The mindset when Europeans speak about immigration is the borders mindset,” he said. “However, the EU removed internal borders and therefore looking at immigration mindset with national borders in mind will not result in a European solution.”