Getting serious

The Maltese government protests the EU's lack of commitment on the issue of illegal immigration problem. From the Gulf Times, Malta complains of poor support on immigrant issue:

Malta complained yesterday about what it said was lack of support from its European Union partners in coping with an unprecedented wave of clandestine immigrants from North Africa. Malta feels that the EU, which it joined two years ago, “lacks real commitment with regard to illegal immigration” to the island and is dealing with Malta with the “mentality of small countries, small problems and this is not acceptable”, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said in a statement. “All attention is on Spain which is getting assistance and Malta is being left in the lurch,” he said. “The recent landings in Malta in the last 10 days are equivalent, with regard to population density, to over 50,000 illegal immigrants landing in Spain in the same period and the Canaries do not have that level of a problem,” the minister continued.

Brigadier Carmel Vassallo, Malta’s armed forces chief, said the number of clandestine immigrants stood at 1,400 with some 1,300 lodged in army barracks. Nearly 300 clandestine arrivals were escorted ashore last Wednesday at Valletta after their boats were intercepted at sea by Maltese patrol vessels. Malta, formerly a British colonial possession, became independent in 1964. It has since become an important freight trans-shipment point, financial centre and tourist attraction. The republic, in fact an archipelago of seven islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, lies directly south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya. Like Italy and Spain, it is a target of immigrants being smuggled into Europe.With 400,000 inhabitants, it is currently the smallest EU member-state in both population and area. – AFP

'la Ue non ci aiuta abbastanza'; Get serious on illegal migration, Bob Geldof tells the EU + Times editorial; From the EUObserver, Malta accuses...

Update 4 july: From the BBC, Malta alarmed by migrant influx