MaltaToday asks prominent personalities and opinion formers to comment on the campaign themes and main electoral issues ahead of Malta’s second-ever European election next Saturday
Joseph Cassar SJ
Jesuit Refugee Service
When the Berlin Wall came down almost 20 years ago, that unbelievable event sparked off a new beginning for Europe, the healing of a deep wound that had scarred the lives of millions of ordinary men, women and children over several decades.
Thankfully, today we live in a different Europe, one without internal borders. Ironically, this new Europe is increasingly putting in place external walls of a different sort, in the form of measures and legislation that deny access to refugees in need of protection. For many asylum seekers from around the world, the only way to reach a place of freedom and security is by travelling and entering in an irregular manner. More effective border controls will simply mean that their journey will be harder and the risks greater, but these will unlikely stop people from moving. The European Parliament needs to ensure that refugees can still gain access to territory where they can safely obtain protection.
The Member States which are on the borders of Europe receive more asylum seekers. We, who are on the southernmost border, are directly affected by this situation and the highest proportion of asylum seekers in the 27 Member States. The EP should ensure that responsibilities are shared more fairly throughout the EU. Moreover, the EP should arrive at a common European asylum system where all persons seeking protection will be treated according to the same high standards, in every Member State. At the same time, it should ensure that measures to combat illegal employment do not drive migrants who for some valid reason cannot be returned home to destitution.
As the EU negotiates various Readmission Agreements with third countries, in order to facilitate the return of those irregularly present in its Member States’ territories, MEPs should use their power to ensure that these agreements include human rights safeguards and guarantee that under no circumstance people are sent back to a country where they may face persecution.
Most refugees flee to neighbouring countries, many of which are among the world’s poorest. Europe should continue to do its utmost to ensure a safe and dignified life to refugees who are living in such countries. It should also renew its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals which, in the face of the global economic downturn, risk being indefinitely postponed or altogether forgotten.
We must have the courage to think differently. I envisage MEPs who transcend the view of the EP as a trading floor where the competing interests of Member States are played out against each another. I vote for a forward-looking rather than an inward-looking Europe. I want future generations in Malta and on the continent to inherit a Europe aware of its Christian roots and firmly established on a consolidated reserve of trust, setting standards of humanity rather than consumption. I expect our MEPs to push for a Europe where the weakest have their dignity upheld and the voiceless are heard. Only when the rights of the weakest are guaranteed will the rights of all be assured.
Joseph Cassar SJ is director of the Jesuit Refugee Service
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