Our country hasn't had migrants from Africa for quite some time now, when our neighbours Italy have had an influx of 12,000 people in just 48-hours last week. According to the Sunday Times of London, there are people in Italy who are asking questions on the reasons why Malta is not taking migrants in, as we are closer to Libya than they are. This is a legitimate concern by our neighbours, because questions with regards to whether a nation respects international humanitarian obligations is of an ethical and social concern. The other question that arises is: if we aren't reaching our international obligations, what has led us to not doing so? In July 2013, the situation of migration to Malta was so imminent that our prime minister Joseph Muscat was speaking about push backs. According to U.N.H.C.R statistics, the highest point for migrants coming to Malta by boat was in 2008. It was also the highest in Italy in 2008, which led to an agreement between Gaddafi and Berlusconi to cooperate so that boats intercepted by Italian coastguards are forcibly sent back to Libya. This was in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights. However, the agreement collapsed with the revolution in Libya in 2011. After that, figures rose again in both Italy and Malta. They reached the highest in 2013, when 2008 migrants reached the Maltese shores by boat from North Africa. However, from 2013 onward numbers began to dwindle to reach an all time low of 25 migrants in 2016 in Malta.
In the mean time, things have become so disparate in Italy that the Italian M.E.P. Mario Borghezio had to recently bring up once again accusations that Malta has traded oil exploration rights to Italy in return for the latter taking the former's share of migrants. My take on this is that this would mean that our country is buying itself out of its humanitarian obligation, which entails not contributing towards aiding victims of war and mass displacement in one of the greatest humanitarian crisis since the holocaust. This is unacceptable, when considering the way in which our country is selling passports to rich migrants, while failing to help those who are really in need. Muscat's government perceives money over and above human life, not to mention honest dealings on an international sphere, which I find as unacceptable as worrying. There are things in life that are more important than money, such as compassion, honesty and integrity. The P.L. government has been failing on this front.
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