Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1070939
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JANUARY 2019 INTERVIEW der to Libya. It doesn't help Libya rebuild itself as a nation. For instance: has anyone told the Libyan government that it should consider ratifying the UN Refugee Convention? Has anyone told them they need to clean up their detention cen- tres? Or clamp down on hu- man rights violations? Meanwhile, the Libyan coastguard recently announced that it would 'only be rescuing people in Libya's own territorial waters'. But those people would generally be trying to escape from Libya anyway; so, more than a 'rescue', it is a case of forcing people back to a country where they are exposed to human rights violations. By accepting (possibly even encouraging) this situation, doesn't Europe become complicit in those violations? Europe should certainly be asking itself what happens to those people once back in Lib- ya. Where are they put, how are they treated? Are they pe- nalized, punished or tortured? Are they dumped in the desert? Make no mistake, the stories coming out of Libya are truly horrific... Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had an opportunity to raise these issues with his Libyan counterpart Fayez al-Sarraj, at a private colloquy in Malta this week. Out of curiosity: what would you have discussed at that meeting if you were in Muscat's place? Without going into the broader picture of Libyan poli- tics as a whole - which is quite frankly a mess, right now – I would appeal to the Libyan government to at least try and deal with, and improve, what little infrastructure they ac- tually have control over - the police, armed forces, detention centres, reception centres, and so on – and to try and show some authority by bringing hu- man rights back to the table. Even if it's just to get more as- sistance: I think that, if Libya shows at least some effort in that direction – by making a commitment to improve the human rights situation – eve- ryone would be more willing to engage. But we don't even have that coming out of Libya right now… it's just repeated reports of very, very ugly human rights violations. Having said all this, I have no idea what Joseph Muscat actually discussed at that meeting… Now that you mention it, the whole thing struck me as odd. TVM was happy to report the meting as a photo opportunity, but we were told nothing about the meeting itself: what was said, what was agreed, etc. I can't help but feeling the whole thing was staged. Do you share that view? I did feel it was a little weird. Maybe even inappropriate, in a way. There has been a show of friendliness between Malta and Libya of late; recently the Maltese government even said, 'let us help the Libyan coast- guard to do its job' (or words to that effect). Yet at the same time, the same Maltese govern- ment also gives its protection to every single person, com- ing from Libya, who asks for it. So on one hand, we're saying: 'let's help Libya'… on the other hand, we're also admitting that not even Libyans are safe in Libya; to the extent that we of- fer them protection here… When you say 'everyone who asks for it'… do you mean that anyone coming from Libya as a refugee will automatically get State protection in Malta? And anywhere else in Europe. In practical terms, the situa- tion in Libya is such that any- one fleeing from that country would be considered eligible for some form of protection. If they apply for it, they will get it. That's a fact. And we acknowl- edge it, by offering blanket protection to all refugees from Libya. Yet we also want to 'help Libya' to keep those people from fleeing, and to take them back if they do. That's what I find so weird about the situation. Naturally, I understand that the Maltese government would want to es- tablish friendly relations with Libya. That is undeniably the way forward. And I genuinely think that we do have a role to play in the nation-building process. But at the same time, let's also acknowledge the iro- ny; let's acknowledge the diffi- culties Libya is going through. Let's not hide them, and pre- tend they don't exist. Because that needs to be part of the conversation. By ignoring the human rights angle, we are tell- ing everyone that we don't care if that component is inserted into the conversation. And that's a very big mistake. To be fair, it is not only Malta mak- ing it. In fact, we are concerned with how all governments en- gage with Libya; because the human rights element is hardly ever present. On the other side of the Mediterranean, there is Europe; and that is why I began this discussion with a refence to deja-vu. Joseph Muscat not only announced almost exactly the same agreement as the time before… but he did so in the exact same words: describing it as 'Europe's failure'. Many will no doubt agree with him. Do you? What has Europe ever done to address mass-migration in the Mediterranean? Nothing much, to be frank. On the specific point of com- ing up with a system for pro- tecting refugees, where the responsibly is shared equitably among all 28 member states… we have so far failed, it must be said. Not for lack of trying, though. The EU has been try- ing to achieve this, one way or another, for the past 20 years… Has it really, though? All we ever hear about are desperate pleas for solidarity by Malta, Italy and other border states, which are routinely ignored by the rest of Europe. How does that constitute 'trying'? Bear in mind that, when we say 'the EU', we are ultimate- ly talking about 28 member states. The European Com- mission, the European Parlia- ment, NGOs, and even some governments have been try- ing to establish common rules of engagement on migration for years… but it is the mem- ber states that keep refusing. The Commission and EP do not have the political strength to overrule national govern- ments. They can only make proposals. Ultimately, it is governments that decide. Who established the infamous Dublin regula- tions? Governments. Who insisted on keeping them in place? Governments. So if we really must point fingers, we need to point them in the right direction. It is the governments of Europe which have consist- ently resisted a common mi- gration policy. Were it not for that, we would have probably had a common policy in place years ago. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI