Government & Politics
Refugees in Malta to be resettled in Portugal
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 3, 2007 - 6:35:59 PM

Portugal will be supporting Malta where illegal immigration is concerned and will take in a group of refugees from the island in the upcoming months.  

Speaking with reference to Portugal taking over the six-month rotating European Union presidency on Sunday, Ambassador Antonio Augusto Russo Dias said illegal immigration is a priority on the agenda, reported PBS.

Among measures to take the problem across the 27-nation bloc, Mr Russo Dias said lawful jobs are to be offered to incoming immigrants, both illegal and legal.

Mr Russo Dias also told PBS that his country will support “ a kind of burden sharing”, similar to that proposed by Malta at the end of a European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers Council in June. The proposal calls for EU states to accept the Maltese proposal for burden-sharing of illegal immigrants saved from Search and Rescue Areas of non-EU states adjacent to member states. While saying that “there are technically difficulties to adapt to the Maltese proposal” he added that bilateral relations between the two countries are veering in “the right direction”.  

In October it is also expected that the two countries will sign a cooperation treaty against organised crime.