[LIVE] Valletta Summit: EU and African leaders in Malta
Rolling coverage of the Valletta Summit and other political developments as they happen • follow on Twitter hashtag #VallettaSummit
Rolling coverage of the Valletta Summit and other political developments as they happen • follow on Twitter hashtag #VallettaSummit
On the occasion of the Valletta Summit, which is bringing together leaders of the European Union and countries from the African continent, we, the Bishops, would like to express our gratitude for the goodwill and commitment being shown with the hope of finding concrete solutions to address the situation concerning migration.
In these hours, our country is living up to its noble mission of being a bridge between the two continents, where we can put aside our differences and our exclusive national interests, and be strengthened by the spirit of hospitality and responsibility to work towards guaranteeing respect for everyone’s fundamental rights, especially the weakest and victims of violence, injustice and poverty.
We encourage the Christian community to pray for these initiatives to help the countries concerned arrive at concrete solutions, conscious that human beings all have a common origin and belonging. We often feel that we work together as one family, with the belief of shaping a better world where wealth is at reach by everyone.
As a Church, and mother to all, we pray to God that, as expressed by Pope Francis, the countries will have “a generous openness which, rather than fearing the loss of local identity, will prove capable of creating new forms of cultural synthesis” (Evangelii Gaudium, 210).
Mario Grech and Charles J. Scicluna, Bishop of Gozo and Archbishop of Malta
Reuters report that a 17-page action plan to be agreed by EU and African leaders at a summit on Malta on Thursday, seen by Reuters, sets out dozens of initiatives, many long established, others fresh, for what leaders say should be a partnership to combat the poverty and insecurity driving Africans north and ensure that migration which does take place is safe and beneficial to all involved.
“Alongside a commitment to conclude more agreements between EU and African states to expand and accelerate the return of illegal African immigrants from Europe to their home countries, EU governments would offer cooperative African states easier visa access for people to travel to Europe, including for work.
“The number of African students and university teachers taking part in an EU-run educational exchange program would be doubled next year from the level in 2014.”
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Last night’s working session was uneventful, and leaders started to leave as soon as the working dinner commenced, most without giving any comments to reporters.
On his way in, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said last night’s talks were run “in a friendly and respectful manner”, adding that migration was “a common problem on both sides”. “We have to support the Africans because they have a bigger problem than us,” he added.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who said talks were based “on common sense”, reiterated that a common problem prevailed: “The basic points are not clarified.
“They think that migration is positive and that it can be a win-win situation. But it is a lose-lose situation and we don’t speak about that. We must change the language of discussion and not talk about it as if it were something positive … because it is completely goes against what European citizens think.”From The Conversation: refugees have a 'right' to hospitality?
[WATCH] 'Need for migrant return policy sounded loud and clear' – Muscat Prime Minister Joseph Muscat says EU leaders sounded a loud message to African leaders on the need for a conjoint return policy for failed asylum seekers
[WATCH] Europe insists on readmissions as African, EU leaders meet in Malta EU leaders expected to offer African countries at least €1.8 billion in exchange for help with migration crisis
'Summit about Europe, Africa working together to save lives and fight smugglers' Federica Mogherini says Europe and Africa must work together to save lives, create legal migration channels and repatriate migrants who don't qualify for asylum
[WATCH] EU leaders urged to agree internally before seeking solutions with African leaders European Parliament President Martin Schulz says Turkey presents ‘ambiguous’ situation: ‘On one hand I can’t criticize Turkey for its treatment of refugees, but on the other we know that the internal situation is difficult’
Muscat wants summit to be first step towards ‘global migration system’ Prime Minister says international migration laws 'cut off from reality of people fleeing their countries and of people fearing migration waves'
NGOs urge states to act ‘urgently’, ‘decisively’ at migration summit NGOs say that so far "no real steps have been taken to increase the avenues for legal migration," and encourages participants to put people first in their discussions at the Summit
AND our special video-podcast from the day… From the fringe of the Valletta Summit • Outside the European Council meeting: UNHCR, Norwegian Refugee Council in the Middle East, and a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Somalia who lives in Marsa
These include: addressing the route causes of migration, legal migration and mobility, international protection and asylum, fighting smugglers and making progress on return arrangements and readmission agreements.
“We are not expecting any major changes tonight … there were very tense discussions yesterday,” the source says.
Europe insists that the African countries respect the legal framework that allows the return and readmission of failed asylum seekers; certain African countries fear that this was a way by which Europe would not allow African nationals to enter the EU. Each year, over $30 billion in remittances is sent to sub-Saharan Africa by some 30 million African migrants living in the diaspora. The cash transfers help households pay for housing, healthcare and education, boost foreign reserves, and even compose a significant part of the GDP in some countries. The remittances in fact exceed development aid.
“In the run-up it was a trade off between legal and safe routes of migration and readmissions: the African side feared that Europe was closing off its borders; the European side that they were not willing to take back failed asylum seekers”.
Agreements might lead to the African nations sending up teams to help with the identification of migrants whilst European countries would help give access to African nations – such as in terms of circular migration.
Tusk also emphasizes proper return and readmission to those not entitled to protection was essential. “It is a responsibility of states towards their citizens. Returns should be effective and quick. While voluntarily is preferable, where not possible, non-voluntarily is a prerequisite.”
Well aware that different points of view will be put forward, Muscat says there would be a positive step seeing the setting up of the trust fund.
He once again calls for rules and international institutions that would take leadership of the global phenomenon of migration which should offer “permanent answers”.
The PM says it will always remain a fundamental principle that lives are saved, while everyone should have access to the right of asylum and protection. Those who do not qualify for asylum should be repatriated “and should be accepted back”.
Countries of origin and transit should work together while there should also be a legal system of migration that would discourage the use of illegal systems. External borders, he says, should be safeguarded while relocation systems should be available all the time, and not when a crisis escalates.
“Land should be safer than the sea … and when this is not possible, we should not risk the lives of our children at sea.”
“There are two different flows … those seeking protection and those who are searching for better social conditions. The life of migrants, exposed to abuse, trafficking and exploitation, is very hard. It is a complex situation and it is important that this summit leads to concrete action.”
Sami also told MaltaToday that the EU must help those countries which have long been supporting refugees. Turkey is one of them.
“At the moment Turkey is hosting the highest number of refugees in the world. So it is has taken a big responsibility. For us, it is also important that refugees are allowed to work, that they are given an education. One of the reasons they are leaving is that they have lost all hope.”
The UNHCR believes that regularizing the flow – create safe and legal channels – will help address the chaos. “Not regularizing it is only feeding the network of smugglers and traffickers while the flow continues in an unmanaged way.”
“The sculpture is made out of the finest marble from the Carrar quarries in Italy. The same quarries provided the marble for Michelangelo’s David and La Pieta.”
The sculpture is the work of Maltese artist Vince Briffa and the work on the marble was all done by hand. The final product weighs six tonnes.
As the winter season approaches and casualty rates climb, MOAS will position the 51-meter Topaz Responder, a custom-made emergency response vessel in Greek territorial waters to act as a fast response and patrol search and vessel. .
The Topaz Responder will host two high-speed rescue vessels on board capable of being launched rapidly or kept on patrol. .
The two rescue boats will be named Aylan and Galip, in honour of the Kurdi brothers whose deaths shocked the world in September. .
MOAS (www.moas.eu) is also establishing a new operation in South East Asia as well as renewing its mission in the central Mediterranean Sea, where the NGO saved almost 12,000 lives since August 2014. The announcement was made just before the Valletta Summit where EU and African leaders are meeting to discuss migration.
She also said that the EU-Africa action plan “will fight illegal immigration, do more on the legal options, including work permits, and will strengthen development aid”.
“Useless claiming we will be helping more if we don’t deliver on investment and help them build democratic institutions. That is what we are trying to do and that is how we show that Europe has a soul.”
“The threats to our security – and to the security of every European nation – have grown enormously in the last few years… from the Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine, to the emergence of ISIL, and the migration flows triggered by the war in Syria.
“And across Europe, the rise of parties of protest demands a response. But nothing that has happened – nothing – has undermined or rendered obsolete the central argument I set out in my speech at Bloomberg.
“If anything it has reinforced it. The European Union needs to change.”
The EU Council is unable to say if Libya has been invited to attend a major migration summit being held in Malta and which is meant to bring together stakeholders from Europe and Africa.
The summit takes place today (Wednesday) and Thursday, however, when asked to confirm or deny that Libya has been invited, a spokesman for the Council, which is organising the event, said: “Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we don’t have the information that you are requesting. We will let you know as soon as possible.”
Hastily released only this week, a legal notice will grant personal security officers the right to carry arms in the service of protecting foreign dignitaries during the Valletta Summit.
The summit hosted by Malta will bring together EU and African leaders in a bid at forging lasting solutions to the global migration phenomenon, and security concerns also represent a major challenge for the host government. . The legal notice is understood to allow any security officers employed for the role of protecting dignitaries to carry arms. . These include privately contracted security personnel, as well as officers employed by a foreign government or by an international organisation “whose competence to act as such has been certified by an authority outside Malta, who are authorised to carry firearms in the course of their duties outside Malta and who have been officially entrusted with the responsibility of providing protection services to a foreign dignitary visiting Malta.” . The Commissioner of Police will be issuing a permit in terms of these regulations for the import and carriage of firearms and ammunition, “for the purpose of the protection of the life and security of a foreign dignitary, to security officers accompanying foreign dignitaries whilst visiting Malta.” . The request for a permit under these regulations shall be received through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. . November is a busy month for the Maltese government, which is hosting the Valletta Summit as well as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, but also an OSCE gathering of ministers and a week of conservation talks by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). .The link is here
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“The people felt that the EU rejected the country’s need for help when it needed it most,” he says. “We would be mistaken to brush off the public’s concerns on immigration, or try and sweep them under the carpet.
“If the Parliament doesn’t speak about the immigration phenomenon, then it will be the populists, xenophobes and racists who will, and we know what disastrous consequences this can have.”
“I believe that EU member states should come closer, but none should aspire to become one country. Our strength is in diversity. The debate on EU reform, amid the UK requests, gives us an opportunity to discuss a subject that we have long avoided: what sort of Europe do we want?
“It is a vast subject, and I can’t say what all Europeans thinks. But us Maltese, where we had long discussed and debated our accession, resulted in positive and negative aspects. The negative was that it divided the country, but the positive was that a decision was taken and, eventually, we all pulled one rope together.”
Muscat says Malta wanted an EU reform but which retained the four freedoms. “We could discuss the changes to the rules and guidelines, making them more applicable to today’s realities. But one of the fundamental principles remains against tax harmonization. Flexibility must be there for everyone, and it always served us well.”
“Member states must get their act together,” Schulz adds.
“By boosting search and rescue and fighting smugglers, our strategy must never be about fighting migration but fighting the root causes: conflict and poverty.”
Schulz called on member states to match the €1.8 billion contribution made by the European Commission in the emergency trust fund for Africa.
Schulz speaks of the cultural mix of Malta, drawing words, food and traditions from different cultures; points out the universal provision of free childcare services and the legislation of civil unions.
He says, he was touched by the solidarity shown by Maltese fishermen and soldiers helping people at sea, the volunteers handing out toys to children. “I cannot but commend you for the enormous effort you take every day to rescue and accommodate refugees … yet too many die.”
“Europe has the duty to directly help African countries to be able to stand on their own feet and thus eliminating the reasons for which citizens leave their countries.”
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Organisation for Migration are urging EU leaders to provide safe and legal channels into the EU. EASO currently has over 700,000 of pending asylum applications, 31% of which have been waiting for six months. Put simply – if it were to stop taking in applications tomorrow, it would need at least a year to process all of them.
It is expected that the participants agree to a political declaration and an action plan on development, refugee protection, and migration.
A leaked draft action plan, dated October 26, also contained a strong emphasis on increased border cooperation, enhanced migration management, combatting smuggling, and facilitating the return of irregular migrants.
A large number of international and regional organization, such as the African Union Commission, the Economic Community of West African States Commission, the UN, the UNHCR and the IOM have been invited to participate.
On Thursday morning, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker is expected to sign the EU’s emergency Trust Fund for Africa – the Commission will provide €1.8 billion while member states and other donors are expected to top it up. Malta will be giving a quarter of a million.
The sitting is expected to start at 6pm, following which EP President Martin Schulz, European Council President Donald Tusk, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil each address the House for 10 minutes.
Here’s a weblink for the PCF letter: Maltese NGOs in open letter to PM as country hosts Valletta Summit