Small frontier island: Malta and the challenge of irregular immigration

Mediterranean Quarterly

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 119-144

  Lutterbeck, Derek ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MALTA   (Malta)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EUROPEAN UNION; IMMIGRATION POLICY; INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION; POPULATION DENSITY; POPULATION GROWTH; SOCIAL MOVEMENT;

EURASIA; EUROPE; MALTA; SOUTHERN EUROPE;

EID: 64149091813     PISSN: 10474552     EISSN: 15271935     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/10474552-2008-038     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Björn Kr̊én, Malta and Immigration. Sovereignty, Territory and Identity, University Essay, (Lund University Department of Political Science, 2008), www.essays.se/essay/4f11fe121a/.
2. With 1,282 inhabitants per square kilometer, Malta has by far the highest population density in Europe.
3. Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs, Irregular Immigrants, Refugees and Integration - Policy Document, Malta, 2005, 7.
4. Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, speech at Wilton Park Conference, Malta, 14 November 2007.
5. On how irregular immigration has been viewed by some Maltese journalists as a "national security" issue and by others as a human rights issue, see Carmen Sammut, "The Ambiguous Borderline between Human Rights and National Security: The Journalists' Dilemma in the Reporting of Irregular Immigrants in Malta," Global Media Journal (Mediterranean edition) 2, no. 1 (spring 2007).
6. See, for example, "Malta at Bursting Point," Economist, 21 June 2007.
7. From 2001 to 2002, the number of irregular immigrants to Sicily increased from around five thousand to more than ten thousand.
8. Derek Lutterbeck, "Policing Migration in the Mediterranean," Mediterranean Politics 11, no. 1 (2006): 59-82.
9. Henry Frendo, "Drawing Parallels between Malta and Cyprus: Deportation Strategy Far Weaker Here," Times of Malta, 13 June 2008.
10. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative, interview with the author, Malta, 1 November 2007; official of Maltese Armed Forces, interview with the author, Malta, 7 July 2008.
11. Officials of Armed Forces of Malta, interview with the author, Malta, 5 October 2007. See also "Frontex justifica el descenso de inmigración por vía marítima a Canarias en un 'efecto desplazamiento' a Italia," Diario Canarias, 30 July 2008.
12. Senior government advisor on migration issues, interview with the author, Malta, 20 May 2008. There are also older immigrant communities in Malta, which predate the rise in irregular immigration since 2002, such as the Indian, Arab (mainly Libyan), and British communities, practically all of who are now Maltese citizens. See Katia Amore, Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in Malta, country report prepared for the European Research Project POLITIS, Oldenburg, 2005, www.uni-oldenburg.de/politis-europe/download/Malta.pdf.
13. An overview of the foreign-born populations of European countries can be found in Rainer Münz, Europe: Population and Migration in 2005 (Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2008), www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=402.
14. UNHCR, Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, 2007: Statistical Overview of Asylum Applications Lodged in Europe and Selected Non-European Countries, Geneva 18 March 2008, 8, www.unhcr.org/statistics/STATISTICS/47daae862.pdf.
15. UNHCR representative, interview with the author, Malta, 1 November 2007; member of Jesuit Refugee Service, interview with the author, Malta, 9 July 2008.
16. Henry Frendo, Malta's Illegal Immigration Predicament: What Policy?, 24 June 2007, available on the website of Azzjoni Nazzjonali, http://azzjoninazzjonali.org/index2.php?option= com_content&do_pdf=1&id=82.
17. See also Frendo, "Drawing Parallels."
18. In 2002, however, Malta sent some two Eritrean nationals back to Eritrea, an action for which Malta was widely criticized, as the returnees were reported to have suffered from abuse upon their arrival in Asmara. See Amnesty International, "Malta: The Government Should Suspend Deportations of Eritreans," EUR 33/001/2002, press release, 10 October 2002, www.amnesty.org/en/region/malta.
19. The Dublin Convention was adopted in 1990 and was replaced by the Dublin Regulation (often referred to as "Dublin II") in 2003.
20. See, for example, Tonio, Borg "How Malta Is Dealing with Immigration Issues," speech given to European Union Journalists' Seminar on Migration, Malta, 14 December 2006, www.mjha.gov.mt/news/pressreleases/ pdf2006/12december/pr_euseminar_14122006.pdf.
21. Commission of the European Communities, "Green Paper on the Future Common European Asylum System," COM(2007) 301 final, Brussels, 6 June 2007, 10-1.
22. Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Annual Report 2006, Malta, 2007, 3.
23. UNHCR, Global Report 2007, Geneva, 2008, 433, www.unhcr.org/gr07/ index.html.
24. US Embassy in Malta, "A Group of Twenty-Two Refugees from Eritrea and Somalia Leave Malta to Be Resettled in the United States," press release, 24 January 2007;
25. US Embassy in Malta, "R&B Superstar Akon and Ambassador Molly Bardonara Visit Marsa Open Centre," press release, 27 July 2007.
26. For a more general discussion of militarization of immigration control in the Mediterranean, see Lutterbeck.
27. Official of Armed Forces of Malta, interview with the author, Malta, 5 October 2007.
28. Malta's search and rescue area is a legacy of colonial times. It was defined by Great Britain when Malta was still a British colony.
29. See, for example, address by Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg at the meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council, Luxembourg, 12 June 2007.
30. Frontex was set up in 2005 and is based in Warsaw. The address of the official website is www.frontex.europa.eu/.
31. Simon Busuttil, "European Union facing the Challenge of Immigration: The Southern Dimension," speech delivered to the European Peoples Party and European Democrats Group of the European Parliament, Granada, Spain, 19-20 April 2007.
32. "Libya Coastal Patrols Remain Problematic in Controlling Migration," Malta Independent, 8 April 2007;
33. "Italy in Frontex Only if Libya Takes Part," Times of Malta, 13 June 2007.
34. "Patrols Resume Today," Times of Malta, 10 September 2007.
35. "Frontex Budget Doubled to EUR 70m for Next Year," Malta Independent, 4 October 2007.
36. "Nautilus III Starts Today," Times of Malta, 17 May 2008.
37. Ministerio del Interior, Balance de la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal 2007, 3, www.mir.es/DGRIS/Notas_Prensa/ Ministerio_Interior/2007/np022103.html.
38. See also "Frontex justifica el descenso de inmigración por vía marítima a Canarias en un 'efecto desplazamiento' a Italia," Diario Canarias, 30 July 2008.
39. Officials of Armed Forces of Malta, interview with author, Malta, 7 July 2008.
40. Officials of Armed Forces of Malta, interview with the author, Malta, 5 October 2007.
41. "Malta Wants EU Patrols to Start Again," Times of Malta, 28 July 2007.
42. "Frontex Patrols End," Times of Malta, 17 October 2007.
43. "Migrant Arrivals Up 36 Percent," Independent, 30 June 2008.
44. For an NGO account of these (and similar) cases see, for example, Italian Refugee Council, CIR Report Regarding Recent Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean, 2007, www.europarl.europa.eu/ hearings/20070703/libe/cir_report_en.pdf.
45. For an account from the perspective of the Maltese government, see Tony Abela, "Of Irregular Immigration and Stating the Facts," Malta Independent, 8 June 2007.
46. "EU Immigration Official Criticizes Malta for Treatment of Migrants," International Herald Tribune, 3 June 2007;
47. "Amnesty Slams Malta over Migrants," Times of Malta, 29 May 2008.
48. Borg, address at the JHA Council.
49. Representatives of Ghaqda Kooperative tas-Sajd, Malta, interview with the author, Malta, 10 October 2007.
50. "Irregular Migration: Fishermen 'Terrified,' Need Guidelines and Protection," Malta Independent, 3 June 2007.
51. In 2005, a proposal made by former JHA minister Borg to reduce Malta's search and rescue region by 70 percent was shot down by the rest of the government, given the large income Malta derives from this area. See "Dropping the Shibboleths on Migration," Malta Today, 13 June 2007.
52. Such a policy is also practiced in the Canary Islands, but not in Spain in general. For an overview of immigrant detention policies in European countries, see the website of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Europe, www.detention-in-europe.org/index.php?option=com_content&task= view&id=12&Itemid=67.
53. There are four detention centers in Malta. In mid-2008, they housed around two thousand immigrants.
54. Originally about 200 soldiers, amounting to about 10 percent of the staff of the Armed Forces of Malta, were working exclusively in the detention centers, but their number has been reduced to around 80 over recent years, while the number of civilian employees has been increased to around 120. Commander of Detention Service, interview with the author, Malta, 19 August, 2008.
55. Currently, the only EU country which has a longer period of detention is Latvia, where undocumented immigrants can be detained for up to twenty months. While some EU countries, such as the UK, Denmark, or Sweden, do not have an upper legal limit of detention, these countries usually detain undocumented immigrants only once their asylum applications have been rejected and they are to be repatriated to their home countries. See "EU Votes to Unify Rules on Detention of Migrants," International Herald Tribune, 18 June 2008.
56. "Global Outcry against EU Immigration Directive," EUObserver.com., 19 June 2008.
57. Amnesty International, 2007 Annual Report for Malta, London, 2008, http://report2007.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Europe-and-Central-Asia/Malta;
58. European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, Third Report on Malta, Strasbourg, 29 April 2008;
59. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Report to the Maltese Government on the Visit to Malta from 15 to 21 June 2005, Strasbourg, 10 September 2007;
60. European Parliament, Report by LIBE Committee Delegation on Its Visit to the Administrative Detention Centers in Malta, Brussels, 30 March 2006;
61. Médecins du Monde, Access to Health Care and Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in Malta, Paris, 2007, www.medecinsdumonde.org/gb/ publications/les_rapports/ acces_aux_soins_es_aux_droits_des_migrants_a_maltes
62. International Federation for Human Rights, "Locking Up Foreigners, Deterring Refugees: Controlling Migratory Flows in Malta," International Fact-Finding Report 403/2, September 2004, www.fidh.org/ spip.php?article1929.
63. European Parliament, 9.
64. Amnesty International, "Malta: Excessive Use of Force and Ill-treatment of Detainees," EUR 33/001/2005, 30 November 2005, www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/534/.
65. This was the Depasquale Report, which has thus far not been made public.
66. Amnesty International, "Malta: Excessive Use of Force."
67. Government of Malta, The National Policy on Irregular Immigrants, Refugees and Detention, final draft, 2007.
68. Officials of Maltese Armed Forces, interview with the author, 5 October 2007.
69. Jesuit Refugee Service, Emigrants Commission and Maltese Red Cross, "Joint NGO Position on Detention of Asylum Seekers," annex A of Government of Malta, National Policy on Irregular Immigrants.
70. "The National Interest Before Human Rights - Alfred Sant," Malta Today, 11 December 2005.
71. Alternattiva Demokratika, "Position Paper on Irregular Immigration," www.alternattiva.org.mt/filebank/documents/ Irreg_Imm_Paper.PDF.
72. Azzjoni Nazzjonali, "Unilateral Action Needed," 13 July 2008, Azzjoninazzjonali.org, www.azzjoninazzjonali.org/ index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=971&Itemid=29.
73. "Azzjoni Nazzjonali Presents Electoral Manifesto," MaltaMedia News, 10 February 2007.
74. Senior government advisor on migration issues, interview with the author, Malta, 20 May 2008.
75. British Council and Migration Policy Group, Migrant Integration Policy Index, Brussels, September 2007, www.integrationindex.eu/ multiversions/2712/FileName/MIPEX-2006-2007-final.pdf.
76. Ibid., 70.
77. Senior government advisor on migration issues, interview with the author, Malta, 20 May 2008.
78. European Employment Observatory, Undeclared Work in Malta, Centre for Labour Studies, University of Malta, May 2007.
79. British Council and Migration Policy Group, 71-2.
80. "Malta Cannot Integrate Illegal immigrants - Sant," MaltaMedia News, 16 September 2007
81. Senior government advisor on migration issues, interview with the author, Malta, 20 May 2007; Commander of Detention Service, interview with the author, Malta, 19 August 2008.
82. Government of Malta, National Policy on Irregular Immigrants, 38-41.
83. Jean-Pierre Gauci, ENAR Shadow Report 2005: Racism in Malta (Brussels: European Network Against Racism, 2006), 16, http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/pdf/en/ Malta%20-%20SR%202007.pdf.
84. "Azzjoni Nazzjonali Presents Electoral Manifesto."
85. "Azzjoni Nazzjonali Promises Malta a Breath of Fresh Air," Independent, 10 June 2007.
86. See, for example, Godfrey Baldacchino, "A Nationless State? Malta, National Identity and the EU," West European Politics 25, no. 4 (October 2002): 191-206.
87. "Migrant 'Beaten' by Police," Times of Malta, 30 June 2008.
88. André Callus, "Malta y la 'migracion por barco en el 2007,' in Associacion pro derechos humanos de Andalucia," in Derechos Humanos en la Frontera Sur 2007, 77, www.apdha.org/media/ informeinmigra07.pdf.
89. European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, 28.
90. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Report on Racism and Xenophobia in Member States of the EU, 2007, Brussels, 2008, http://fra.europa.eu/fra/material/pub/racism/report_racism_0807_en.pdf.
91. Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Annual Report 2006, 3, www.jrseurope.org/Nansen%20Award%202007/2006_Annual_Report.pdf.
92. Amnesty International, "Malta: Attacks Against Anti-racists Must End," 9 June 2006, www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR33/001/2006.
93. Mario Vasallo, "Racism in Malta," study report prepared for Allied Malta Newspapers Ltd., August 2005. The report has not been published as of this writing but has been obtained by the author.