European leaders have agreed that illegal immigration is a European problem and that all 27 member states should shoulder responsibilities fairly.  This stands out as a major point of interest for Malta in the conclusions of the summit of the European Council held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, June 19-20.

Prime Minister Gonzi has expressed his satisfaction at this point saying that this is something that Malta has been working upon for a long time.

“European Leaders have finally acknowledged that illegal immigration is a European problem” he said. Besides burden-sharing, the summit’s conclusions also refer to better “integrated border management” to enhance pan-European collaboration on immigration issues.

Re-patriation programmes for those illegal immigrants who do not qualify for refuge status are also to be given a boost as the EU will adopt a stronger policy of re-admission of aliens to their countries of origin.

Malta is to benefit from European aids to help it towards a more comprehensive way of identifying countries of origin especially in those cases when the illegal immigrants have no identification documents.

Prime Minister Gonzi said that besides sharing burdens the EU will demand that those countries which currently receive European aids honour their part by collaborating with the EU on repatriation matters for illegal immigrants originating from their countries.

The summit also focused on the rising oil and food prices and the implications of this on the European and global economy. The escalation in prices has created substantial pressure on the EU and its people in the last few years and has led to many demonstrations by workers demanding subsidies and support to help them cope.

On Tuesday, the European Commission granted fishermen emergency aid to help them cope with record fuel prices. A day later, hundreds of farmers, truckers and taxi drivers blocked roads in Brussels to put pressure on European Heads of State to address the rise in fuel and food prices constructively. They are also demanding that EU governments offer them subsidies to counter the negative impact of the rising prices.

Moreover, the problem of higher fuel and food prices also contributes to the flow of illegal immigrants especially from developing countries.

“The rise of food and oil prices is creating further problems for Africa which is the main source of illegal immigration” said Prime Minister Gonzi.

“Malta will be responding to this quasi-dramatic situation by finding local solutions and new mechanisms to address these rises.” he said, refusing to exclude revision of current energy rates.

“We will respond with caution and sensitivity to ensure that the most vulnerable are not hit too hard by the changes.  Since the problem of higher prices is structural in nature, stemming from increased demand from China, Brasil and other countries, the corresponding initiatives to respond to it need to be structural.” Dr Gonzi said.