Ministers responsible for migration and asylum from Spain and Malta underlined the need for more solidarity in the EU and fair burden sharing over migrant flows that have a particular impact on front line member states.
Minister for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality of Malta Byron Camilleri and Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez, attended along with fellow Ministers the MED5 Summit, hosted by Cyprus’ Interior Minister Nicos Nouris on Friday and Saturday in the Akamas region, in Paphos. Ministers from Greece and Italy and the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic, whose country is at the helm of the six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU, also attended, either online or with physical presence.
In statements after the Summit’s conclusion, Camilleri said that Malta remains concerned that the number of pledges for relocation made by member states is “a far cry, a very small fraction, from the actual number of irregular arrivals that Malta, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and Greece have received in the first nine months of this year.”
He also said that member states which have been experiencing the highest number of arrivals should be given priority and be the first to benefit from relocation.
We cannot accept a situation whereby a frontline member state would be punished for striving to prevent irregular flows, fight people smuggling and reduce illegal entries, the Maltese government official noted.
According to Camilleri, solidarity is crucial but it must only complement, not replace the existing work that needs to be done on the external dimension.
“People are dying around us, a tragedy after another, from Lebanon to the Atlantic” he noted and said that Europeans should admit that “the only way to save lives is to eradicate people smuggling once and for all.
From his part, Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez said that we all share the need to continue making a common team and work tirelessly “so that the voice of the southern countries will be key in the process to finally agree on a realistic, fair and truly European Migration and Asylum Pact.”
Southern European countries know that no system can ever work if the burden of responsibility continues to fall almost exclusively on the countries of first entry, the Minister of Interior of Spain added.
Spain, he said, will continue to defend the need to articulate a real and effective cooperation with the countries of origin and transit, as well as defend the principle of fair share of responsibility and solidarity.
Source: Cyprus News Agency