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Newspaper post WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 25 JUNE 2014 • issUE 370 • pUblishEd EvEry wEdNEsday aNd sUNday Editorial - PAGE 9 MIRIAM DALLI THE Maltese government will be supporting Italy's threat to suspend its Mare Nostrum operation if the EU fails to take over the duties of control- ling migration flows. Human Rights Watch said Italy is expected to use this week's European Union summit to ask the EU to take charge of its life-saving operation to rescue migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. "Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy will seek agree- ment in Brussels for the EU border agency Frontex to take over the duties of the Italian Navy's Mare Nostrum operation," HRW said in a statement. Mare Nostrum began in October 2013, in the wake of a boat wreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa that claimed more than 360 lives. About 40,000 people, many of them fleeing conflict and abuse, have been saved as a result of the operation. Rising numbers of refugees and mi- grants attempting the perilous cross- ing via Libya and the financial costs of the operation help explain Italy's call for Frontex to take charge. The move is supported by Malta, which has also had to deal with boat migra- tion in recent years. "Without stronger collective EU ac- tion, this summer could become the Mediterranean's drowning season," said Benjamin Ward, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Hu- man Rights Watch. "EU leaders should give the finan- cial and material backing to continue Italy's vital efforts to save lives at sea and ensure that those who are res- cued land at a safe place and can have any asylum claims fairly heard." Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has argued in favour of a common ir- regular migration policy. During a meeting of the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee, Muscat said thousands of lives have been saved thanks to Italy's operation, which is supported by the Maltese Armed Forces. "No one must think that the EU has tackled irregular migration just be- cause we had very few arrivals. Mal- ta's Armed Forces have been heavily involved in rescuing migrants while Italy has been taking them in. It has now become the norm to see between 20 and 30 boats crossing the Medi- terranean at any given time," Muscat said. Malta supports Italy's threat to suspend Mare Nostrum €0.90 MIRIAM DALLI THE Malta Tourism Authority is operat- ing without a board, with the previous ap- pointees' term having expired last month and a new one still not constituted. MTA's chief executive officer, Josef For- mosa Gauci, confirmed that there was no board at the moment but that the MTA's operations continued as usual. The issue was first raised in parliament by Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo last week during the approval of the Authority's fi- nancial estimates. "There is no board at the moment but the executive continued with its work as nor- mal," Formosa Gauci said. Malta Hoteliers and Restaurants Associa- tion (MHRA) CEO Andrew Agius Muscat said he could not understand why the gov- ernment was taking so long to appoint the board. "We were asked to make our nomination last month and so we did. We cannot un- derstand why the board has not yet been formally constituted and we cannot under- stand what's causing the delay," he said. Agius Muscat went on to add that more importantly, government had to update its tourism strategy. "We have now been incessantly urging the government to review its strategy, in- cluding the MTA's operations. The sector needs a new vision." The board has to be appointed by the government. Questioned what was causing the delay in the appointment of the board, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said he was "conscious" of the fact that the previous board's term had expired. "Effectively speaking, the executive board is still functioning as normal and no work has been halted. It might be appointed in the coming days… it might be today," the minister told MaltaToday yesterday after- noon. CONTINUES PAGE 3 No MTA board after term expired in May New board set to be appointed, but hoteliers say sector 'needs new vision' Chomped by the tooth fairy: Italy's Chiellini accuses Uruguay's Luis Suarez of biting his shoulder • WORLD CUP 19 Italy and England out of the World Cup

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