Interview: Malta expects "frank, clear" discussion in Valletta Summit: minister

Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security Carmelo Abela said on Wednesday that the Valletta Summit on Migration could be a good opportunity for all the European and African countries to have a "frank and clear" discussion on the way forward.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the minister said Europe and Africa need to collaborate together to try to find solution to the influx of the asylum seekers that continue to flood European borders, which is an issue that needs a solution not only from Europe, but also from Africa.

The Valletta Summit on Migration, which runs from Nov. 11 to 12 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Malta, was called by the European Council in April. It brings together European and African Heads of State and Government in an effort to step up cooperation in the area of migration and address the current challenges and opportunities. The conference builds on existing cooperation processes between Europe and Africa, particularly the Rabat and Khartoum processes on migration, and the EU-Africa Dialogue on Migration and Mobility.

Located in the south of the Europe continent and the heart of Mediterranean, and close to the North Africa such as Tunisia and Libya, Malta remained a popular landing point for irregular immigrants to enter Europe, in recent years. It was reported that a total of 13,399 people were rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) at sea between 2003 and 2013. Moreover, the small archipelago, also the smallest EU member state in term of size, represents one of the highest population densities in the world, at 1,313 persons per square km.

However, there were just 93 migrants were brought to Malta this year, much less than the previous year's 569 migrants. When asked how migrants were no longer coming to Malta but many thousands were being taken to Italy at a press conference this September, Abela disclosed to the media that there was "close collaboration" between Malta and Italy for Italy to take migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, in view of Malta's small size and limited facilities.

"We still have a number of refugees to claim asylum here, in fact our asylum seekers are still very high comparing to EU and comparing to our population," Abela told Xinhua. "With less migrants arriving here by boat, we still have high number of migrants who seek asylum here, and the percentage of acceptance is very high as well," he added.

In fact, the Maltese government also managed to find a way to repatriate the irregular immigrants back to their countries of origin. "We have a voluntary program, through which migrants will be allowed to go to their countries of origin, and we give some money to them to start their economic activities in their own countries, so it's a voluntary program, those who apply for that and qualified for that then will be returned to their countries," said the minister.

In cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Malta, the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) project helped 31 migrants return to their home lands in its fifth phase last year, and a total of 266 migrants have been repatriated to their home countries over the past five years.

The minister said Malta also considers the summit as a good way forward to step up diplomatic relations with countries from where the migrants come. "We can understand each other better, and we can also ease the issues and documentation that the migrants can be repatriated to their own countries." Endit