As published in The Times of Malta:
Immigration is an emotive topic that most politicians would not want to touch with a barge pole. As we’ve seen in the last 100 days, often Government politicians end up pandering to the masses and playing on people’s worst fears. It’s a system designed to get the most Facebook ‘likes’ or Twitter ‘mentions’ possible.
The paradoxical thinking is that the more likes you have the better politician you are. This is a phenomenon that is not limited to immigration, of course. It’s across the board. It’s what is known as Government by Facebook.
I am not ready to follow that path. I will always fight for Malta’s corner and I will continue to be strong where this is needed but I will not exploit the human tragedy that is immigration for some imagined boost at the polls.
I have always looked up to politicians who go beyond what is expected of them at mass meetings. Those who are not afraid to say that not everything is black and white and not everything can be fully explained in 140 characters, have always been the politicians that I have voted for and on who I try to model my own work.
Instead, we now have a government that says one thing, checks Facebook and quickly changes its mind. Its principles and values are as bendable as the buses that still clog our roads.
Earlier this month, the European Parliament approved a legislative package called the Common European Asylum System. I gave a highly critical speech, where I said that while there can be absolutely no compromises on human dignity and human rights, the Dublin II Regulation is unfair because this still requires asylum-seekers arriving in a member state to remain the responsibility of that country and, therefore, places a hugely disproportionate burden on Malta. I called upon the European Commission to show the moral leadership needed on this issue.
During a stormy European Parliament Committee meeting I voted against any amendments to the Dublin Regulation that refused to tackle Malta’s core issue.
If you dig a little beyond the first page you would see that the package also contains important rules on allowing police access to the databases of asylum-seekers that could be vital in the investigation of serious crime. We urgently needed legislation, with strong data protection standards, to give our law enforcement agencies all the tools they need to combat crime. I voted in favour of this part of the package and I will vote in favour again.
At the same time, I have made the point that it is simply not enough for the European Commission to say that relocation of people from Malta to other countries does not enjoy the support of other member states. It has now proposed an annual forum on relocation, which is a sort-of conference where every year member can voluntarily announce it will take a number of beneficiaries of international protection from Malta.
It is a small step but it is not enough. Not nearly enough.
There is still a lot that needs to be done, from increasing the amount of beneficiaries of international protection relocated to other member states and third countries, to looking at the rules governing the rescue of people at sea and where these are disembarked, to increasing the amount of bilateral arrangements with stable African states where we can return immigrants that land in Malta who are not in danger.
We must also look at the long term and the EU must do more to help North African countries beef up their border security and more to address the root cause of immigration and ensure that other states, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are given the tools to rebuild and ensure that people have a future there without having to risk travelling illegally and dangerously to Europe via Malta.
But these are solutions that require a lot of hard work and that go beyond the five-year mandate usually given to politicians. We must accept that long term implies just that. There is no magic quick fix.
I will not join the brigade that calls for pushing people back to countries where there is no sustainable asylum system or where they are liable to be persecuted but I will do my utmost to use all the tools available to help those countries raise their standards. The European Parliament must lead the debate on these issues.
The reality, that no one in this Government will tell you is that, despite everything that is done and that can be done, some of the people we rescued from the high seas will remain here for years to come. A lot already have.
So what happens next? Do we simply stamp our heels and complain that life is unfair? Or do we ensure that those who do remain here actually become valuable members of Maltese society? While we work on solutions and continue the push at European level, will we encourage a system of integration that is fair and that teaches people stuck here what living in Malta is all about? Are we even ready to accept these choices?
I am not sure which choice will get the most Facebook ‘likes’ but then I still believe that deferring to Facebook to take important decisions is not why people elect politicians.
Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist MEP.
