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Malta has 'informal' deal with Italy to take migrants: minister

Xinhua, September 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security Carmelo Abela revealed on Tuesday that the archipelago has an agreement with Italy for Italy to take migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, according to Times of Malta report.

Asked at a press conference how migrants were no longer coming to Malta but many thousands were being taken to Italy, the minister said that this was an informal arrangement, which avoids the disputes of the past about where the boat people should be landed, but could change with a change of Italian administration.

Abela added it was an agreement which made sense in view of Malta's small size and limited facilities.

According to a report released by the archipelago's National Statistics Office last June, a total of 569 irregular immigrants were brought to Maltese shores in 2014, a decrease of 71.7 per cent comparing with the preceding year.

Speaking of the refugee crisis, Abela said Germany's decision on Sunday to reimpose some border controls was not a breach of the Schengen agreement but an emergency and temporary measure which the Schengen agreement envisaged.

However, he said, he was concerned about actions by EU member states Slovakia and Hungary, particularly Hungary's decision to build a high fence to keep migrants out. Such actions, he said, went completely against the values of solidarity and inclusion.

European Union interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Sept. 22 to cope with refugee crisis. Endit