Interview | Sunday, 22 March 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

An appeal to reason

Home Affairs Minister CARM MIFSUD BONNICI plays down alarmist statements on an immigration crisis, saying his decisions are based on reason and not on emotions

Carm Mifsud Bonnici refuses to go with the flow, resisting calls from the Opposition and government backbench to suspend Malta’s international obligations if Europe refuses to heed the island’s migration pleas.
“Immigrants are not toy soldiers. They are human beings. How can we do this to human beings?” he says about backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s suggestion that migrants should be towed within swimming distance of Libya. “It is already difficult to repatriate people refused asylum on an airplane. Just imagine what would happen if we board them on boats to take them back. Who will be taking responsibility if something goes wrong on that boat?”
He says the implementation of Pullicino Orlando’s proposal would be “a black mark” for Malta. “Can we afford to get a black mark which tarnishes the image of our country?”
He also warns that if we go down that path, Malta’s economy will suffer greatly if the island is perceived as country that does not respect fundamental human rights.
But Mifsud Bonnici sees a silver lining in Pullicino Orlando’s spurious statement. “Some people used to think towing migrants back to Libya was possible. The fact that Jeffrey brought this thought to the fore gave us the opportunity to say that this is not possible.”
Frank Portelli, a former PN president and now an MEP candidate, has accused Libya of closing its eyes at human trafficking. But Mifsud Bonnici disagrees.
“It is a big mistake to condemn Libya. I’m sure they are doing their best – having one, two million people from other countries, bringing with them a wide variety of problems, is not a pleasant thing for Libya.”
He explains that Libya found itself in this situation after Gaddafi’s ‘Green Revolution’, which decreed that Libya had no frontiers. “For a long period of time Libya effectively functioned without the need for frontiers. It is for this reason that today thousands of people from west and east Africa pass from Libya. This creates a big problem for Libya.”
The ultimate solution for Mifsud Bonnici is to help Libya beef up its resources to strengthen its frontier.
The minister acknowledges that as poverty and instability persist in Africa, immigration will not stop. “Countries like Somalia are not just economically bankrupt but suffer from a complete breakdown of law and order. How can one expect anyone to continue living in a state of total disorder?”
He disagrees with Labour’s claim that Malta faced a crisis of immigration. “I cannot say that we face a national crisis. The figures show that this is not the case.”
He points out that in October 2008 there were more people living in detention and open centres in Malta than today. “What has raised the alarm bells is that a number of boats arrived in winter, at a time when they usually do not come. But I try to base my decisions not on alarmism and emotions, but on reason.”
Joseph Muscat has called on government to establish a limit on the number of irregular migrants that could be hosted in Malta, and now is toying with the suspension of its international obligations. Mifsud Bonnici warns of the very serious consequences of this intransigent path.
“Malta would simply be isolating itself from the rest of the world. The idea that if we behave irresponsibly we will attract attention to our plight is wrong… we can’t behave like a little child who goes in a corner to stamp his feet for we will be left in the corner.”
The proposal, Mifsud Bonnici says, is reminiscent of Dom Mintoff’s antics in Helsinki, and he warns of dire financial consequences on the maritime sector if Malta absconds on its international obligation to rescue boats on the high seas if they seek assistance. “Malta has one of the largest fleets in the world which generates a lot of revenue. Renouncing our international maritime obligations would destroy this sector.”
He also explains that one of the important safeguards for Malta is that international conventions stipulate that migrants should be taken to the nearest port of call. In the past years pressure has been mounting to change this rule, in a way that migrants rescued in the high seas would become the responsibility of the country in whose search and rescue zone they are found.
“This is not in our interest because even Lampedusa falls within our search and rescue zone. If we suspend our international obligations we would be divesting our power to invoke the ‘nearest port of call’ principle.”
He says that absconding from EU directives would simply mean that Malta is no longer part of the European Union and insists it is better to face migration flows while inside the EU. “We are in the middle of a migratory flow irrespective of whether we are part of the EU or not. It is a question of geography. The EU gives us the tool to relocate those persons who are granted asylum here in other EU countries.”
But by hinting it would veto EU decisions, wouldn’t Malta have a greater bargaining position? “This is a measure of last resort. We only use it when it is the country’s interest to do so,” Mifsud Bonnici says.
Malta had used its veto power when other member states proposed giving migrants granted protection, the right to permanent residence after five years. “I argued that this proposal was defeating its purpose. It would have meant that immigrants would have to stay in Malta for five years to gain the right of residence in other EU countries. This would have meant an accumulation of people in a densely populated country. Our position was understood.”
So why not use this power to ensure that burden sharing is turned into an obligatory rather than voluntary mechanism?
“We have to remember that 27 member states have accepted the concept of burden sharing… It was a great achievement for our country. Through this mechanism we can resettle people in another country which participates in a structured programme.”
Mifsud Bonnici also insists that compulsory burden sharing could be counterproductive to Malta’s interests in the long run. “The migratory flow can change. It could be redirected to another country and then we will end up having to take people from other countries.”
He adds that the perception that the EU is not helping Malta is mistaken, citing the €112 million in funds from the External Borders Fund through which Malta will benefit with four brand new patrol boats and an airplane. The minister acknowledges that the EU takes a long time to decide before it finally acts.
“It’s not true they are ignoring us. They’re simply evaluating what we’re saying – something perfectly natural in a union of 27 countries.”
Can’t we get more if we stamp our feet? “There’s a limit. If we stamp our feet without having solid arguments they’ll think something is wrong with us. But when our actions are backed by solid arguments they do listen. I did stamp my feet where necessary. But I did not return back to Malta boasting I went to Europe to stamp my feet. If I do this people will think the minister is being hysterical: you don’t need to shock to get attention.”
Mifsud Bonnici prefers persuasion, saying the best way to persuade is to let others see things with their eyes. “Thank God Malta was visited by Commissioner Jacques Barrot, who saw with eyes the situation in detention centres. I could have made a clean-up before his visit. I did not take him to see Ta’ Kandja which is in a very good state. I wanted him to see the worst places. That is why he publicly offered financial assistance to help Malta.”
One of Joseph Muscat’s proposals involves periodical reports on the situation in detention centres. Why are these not made available to parliament?
Mifsud Bonnici makes it clear he has no difficulty tabling these reports in parliament. “The situation in detention centres is critical because we had to react to a continuous flow of migrants. Had we not faced an influx of persons in December, January and February, we would have been in a position to do all the refurbishment we had planned.”
He also explains the difficulties of hosting persons from different cultures. “As Europeans we expect them to pack their things in their room and live in it as we do. This is not the case. They immediately transform their room according to their aptitudes. These people never had furniture. They never had tables or sofas.”
People from rival tribes and ethnicities also end up living in a confined place. The minister recognizes this is a problem but insists it is difficult to solve it entirely. “People from 30 different ethnicities are currently in Malta. Should I build 30 centres, one for each ethnicity?”
The authorities try to separate certain tribes which have a history of rivalry, but the problem of mixed ethnicities was lately accentuated by the refurbishment of the Lyster barracks, to replace tents with pre-fabricated rooms.
“To do this we had to bring people of different ethnicities living together. This resulted in two or three fights between different ethnicities. But what was my alternative? Should I have left them in a place which they had themselves ravished? Now that I have taken them to a more decent place I have been criticised for putting different ethnicities in the same place. Am I expected to practice racial segregation?”
But is not the problem exacerbated by long periods of detention of up to 18 months? Wouldn’t it be cheaper and less cumbersome to detain asylum seekers for shorter periods?
“Not all the people there spend 18 months. The majority spend less time. But we have to be careful as we do not want a relaxation of detention policy to serve as a pull factor.”
He also says Malta has doubled, if not tripled the number of people engaged in processing applications for asylum. This has also increased the number of refused migrants which are kept in detention. “So we made a rule stating that if appeal against refusal is not decided within a year, these people are released from detention.”
Mifsud Bonnici says the government does not have the luxury of detaining only those who do not apply for asylum. “We are the only country in Europe where we process the application for asylum of all those who request it. We are the only country in Europe where 98% of persons who come here apply. Our detention policy is based on security.”
Despite the flow of migrants passing from Malta, Mifsud Bonnici is not keen on having an integration policy which would be needed if Malta sets up a quota of migrants it has to receive. “These people look at Malta as a stepping stone towards another country in EU or the USA. We are not faced with people who want to establish themselves here.”
The Opposition has voiced complaints that immigrants are allowed to jump queues in hospitals and polyclinics. Mifsud Bonnici is irked that the question is even raised. “First we alarm the population that these people suffer from all sorts of diseases. Then we want them to wait for hours in hospitals? Let us not forget these people only skip queues because they are accompanied by security.”
He also reveals the government already has plans to set up a health centre to cater for detainees. “But if someone has a heart attack this person will be taken to hospital as we cannot have open heart surgery in such a centre. Ultimately we have to become more tolerant as a nation.”
He lambastes the Opposition for sending mixed messages to the public. “On one hand they call for greater tolerance towards these people and on the other they say things which fuel intolerance.”
He says the Opposition is trying to score a political goal on illegal immigration. “It is such a big challenge for the country, that we cannot score political goals… does the PL sincerely feel it can solve its problems through its 20 points?”
He dismisses, for example, their suggestion to establish a quota of migrants Malta should take, saying that if a limit is set, what would Malta do when the figure is exceeded? “What would I do if this number is exceeded and a boat is sinking? Leave them there to drown?”
Mifsud Bonnici is optimistic that despite the present difficulties, things can only improve in the future. “The fact EU has approved a pact on immigration and asylum is a definite step in the right direction. Before this pact was approved we only had a number of disconcerted actions.”
He says the pact makes it easier for Malta to repatriate rejected migrants, as it creates a common mechanism for all EU countries for a common European document accepted by countries from which the immigrants originate.
Far from offering a solution to all Malta’s problems, the pact has at least put immigration on the EU’s agenda. “Had we rejected this pact we would have removed immigration from the EU’s agenda,” he says, adding that Malta had to persuade sceptical EU states like the Czech Republic, holders of the EU presidency, which initially did not even want to discuss immigration.
Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström has also promised Mifsud Bonnici that immigration in the Mediterranean will be an integral part of the Swedish presidency’s agenda. “Should I tell Bilstrom I don’t want to meet him to show him I’m tough? Should I go to the EU telling them to take it or leave it? They will simply send me back saying that am I crazy.”

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.