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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 20 August 2008 OPM backtracks on Galea ultimatum The Office of the Prime Minister yesterday announced it was backtracking on its order to Alternattiva Demokratika secretary-general Vic- tor Galea to resign his political post if he wanted to remain employed in the civil service – just two days after MaltaToday broke the news. Last Sunday, this newspaper reported that a letter sent from the Office of the Prime Min- ister had instructed the permanent secretary in the Gozo Ministry to inform Galea that as a "teacher", he "may not hold the post of Secretary General of AD." Acting upon the OPM's instructions, the Gozo Ministry duly informed Galea that he had until last Friday – the Santa Marija holiday – to decide on whether he intends to continue serv- ing as AD's secretary-general. In a further twist to the story, the OPM said that the letter to Victor Galea and two officials of Alleanza Nazzjonali were issued without the knowledge of the Prime Minister or senior OPM officials, first learning about it when they re- ceived questions from MaltaToday. The two AN officials, the vice-president and treasurer of the party, have since resigned their political posts. A spokesperson for the OPM yesterday told MaltaToday the case was prompted by a "bu- reaucrat who had gone by the book" in issuing the letter to Galea. The spokesperson said the action had not been mandated at a political level. "The OPM ordered that the letter be suspended and for the position to be reviewed. As you know there are other people who have positions in the civil service while occupying political posts." … A spokesperson for the Prime Minister has also told MaltaToday the government is consid- ering changes to the public service management code. Contacted by MaltaToday, Victor Galea was audibly surprised at the development, having not yet heard that the OPM letter had been withdrawn. "Well, what I can say is that common sense has won in the end," he said over the phone. "I would like to thank all the people who helped, starting with MaltaToday for making the story public. Also, everyone who offered me their solidarity and support over the past days, both in public and also in private. In fact it is amazing how many people, including complete stran- gers, communicate with you when you have a personal crisis. I feel I have to stress that this support came from all fronts: Labour, National- ist, AD, etc. It was clear that people of integrity were shocked by this, regardless of their political allegiances." MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Criminalising NGOs doesn't help RECENT events appear to confirm suspicions that Malta's policy of blocking its harbours to NGO rescue vessels forms part of a new approach to immigration supported by other European states. An exception was made this week for MV Aquarius of SOS Mediterranée, which was al- lowed to dock at Malta after an agreement was reached to distribute the 141 asylum seekers among seven different countries. But while the Aquarius set sail again from Malta on Thurs- day, three other vessels – MV Lifeline, the Seefuchs and the SeaWatch – are all impound- ed in the Grand Harbour and cannot leave. The captain of the Lifeline is also facing court proceedings over allegedly 'irregular' ship-registration. Neither the Seefuchs nor the SeaWatch were accused of breaking any law, but the Maltese authorities are in the process of verifying their Dutch registration as well. A government spokesperson defended the decision, insisting that the Maltese authori- ties were still communicating with their Dutch counterparts to ascertain the registration and classification of the three ships that all fly the Dutch flag. The NGO however retorted that the that Dutch inspectors requested by Malta in July had officially confirmed that the Sea-Watch 3 meets all the conditions of the Dutch flag state, and that the registrations were available. It added that to date, the Maltese authori- ties have not yet informed Sea-Watch of the requirements that must be met before it can leave port. From this angle, it is difficult to refute the NGOs' main argument that government's ac- tions amount to a "politically motivated block- ade", and that there are no justifications, as per international law, to detain those vessels. Nonetheless, this view fails to take in the sheer complexity of the issue at hand. SeaWatch is right to suspect politics as the main motivation; but the political angle of im- migration extends far beyond Malta's shores. The 'blockade' policy is in reality a self-de- fence mechanism adopted by Malta in the face of international pressure exerted by Italy. It was in response to an Italian show of strength from its new right-wing populist gov- ernment, that Malta clamped down on those NGO boats in the first place; and it was in response to a situation whereby EU member states no longer intervene in any wide-ranging rescue at sea, that the NGOs initially stepped in to rescue asylum seekers themselves. The dynamics of these decisions have been very complex. For a number of years, Italy's 'Mare Nostrum' had ensured the rescue of countless human beings fleeing persecution; but in the absence of a common asylum sys- tem for the EU, the project placed undue bur- den on Italy domestically and politically. It also influenced the ebb and flow of migra- tion patterns. As with all decisions taken by the EU or EU states, criminal organisations responded accordingly: when Mare Nostrum was operational, traffickers fed the outflow to the Search-And-Rescue zones; when Mare Nostrum was discontinued, and NGOs stepped in to patrol the high seas outside Libya, traffickers started monitoring these rescues on the edge of Libyan waters to take back their trafficking boats from saved asylum seekers. Already, the failure of past EU strategies can be felt. The 10-point action plan on im- migration, adopted in 2014, had envisaged military strategies aimed at destroying those vessels after performing rescue operations. Now that this plan has clearly backfired, the EU adopted a new action plan earlier this year: part of which constitutes an attempt to give Libya control of rescues at sea, in a move that endangers the right to non-refoulement by sending back asylum seekers to the place they are fleeing from. Even the apparent success of the Aquarius negotiations this week reinforces the impres- sion of a Europe that is powerless to come up with any lasting solutions. Once again we were forced to rely on mutual co-operation and goodwill in a one-off case. But while the agreement is welcome, it is hardly a long-term European policy. This week, Italy refused to rescue a boat on the high seas and it was only when the boat approached Malta's SAR zone's southern tip that Malta's armed forces intervened. This episode confirms the disarray EU member states are in since the Italian election of the Lega-MS5 coalition: but it also poses ques- tions for Malta to answer. Had a private NGO rescued those migrants, would the vessel have been refused entry to our harbours, or punitively detained in Malta for having done what a government failed to do in the first place? It is indeed already incongruous that private NGOs have had to step in where governments refuse to venture; now, it seems EU states want to try and give the impression that there are no rescues to be made at sea, by prevent- ing NGOs from even rescuing them: at a time where there are no large-scale interventions comparable to Mare Nostrum. With this kind of logic, does the Maltese government expect rescues to be made at sea only by passing private merchant ships and fishermen? Does Malta reasonably expect that it can be allowed to criminalise private NGO rescue at sea, while giving the impression that it is abiding by its international obligation to save lives at sea? Sadly, one scenario excludes the other. The policy of criminalising NGOs must end. Editorial "Aretha helped define the American experi- ence. In her voice, we could feel our histo- ry… our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect." Barack Obama on the death of soul legend Aretha Franklin

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