Interior Ministers of the European Union meeting in Vienna promised to change their immigration and asylum policies in order to agree which refugees should be granted shelter in the bloc. The new policies will operate in a manner where the refusal to accept a refugee into a country must be corroborated by all the EU members. In turn, Maltese Justice Minister Tonio Borg said that Malta is to receive additional funding for illegal immigration problems since the problem is more acute. Italy and Spain will also benefit of additional funding. Additionally all EU Ministers agreed with the proposals EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini drew up concerning asylum and migration management.
Franco Frattini stated he is produce a draft list of "safe countries" from which asylum requests into the 25-state bloc would in a first assessment be seen as unwarranted. This list will prove beneficial for Malta because irregular immigrants who submit applications, and who have arrived from countries featuring on this list, would not even be considered. This list also means that immigrants can be returned to these countries without worry of retaliation or violation of their rights. In turn, four projects to help Tanzania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine will be launched by June 2006, in order to help the countries deal with refugees entering the territories and ensure that such refugees do not enter towards the EU.
Alternatively 4 million euros (Lm 1.7 million) have been allocated for refugees who have fled socio-economic troubles various African countries such as in the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and others.
See also:
EU presents a series of actions to manage migration flows
By MaltaMedia News
Nov 30, 2005, 18:15 CET
© Copyright 2005 - MaltaMedia Online Network
Top of Page
| 
