Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/483475
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2015 6 News MATTHEW VELLA THE concessionaires and authors of Malta's sale of passports, Henley & Partners, are assuaging the moral dilemma of selling citizenship at €650,000 to the world's super-rich by donating $1 million to the global refugee cause. As destitute workers and other mi- grants flee poverty, climate change, war, and persecution in Africa and the Middle East to reach European shores and claim protection, Malta keeps the doors open for new citi- zens who can afford the €1.15 mil- lion 'golden passport' that is official- ly known as the Individual Investor Programme. Henley & Partners announced an innovative partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to donate more than $1 million to help the global refugee cause. Through a multi-year partnership Henley & Partners will support UN- HCR's global refugee registration activities with the contribution, and further advocate and assist UN- HCR's resource mobilisation efforts in the interests of its people of con- cern. On Friday, the EU's prime ministers "de- plored" the loss of migrants' lives at sea while at the same time still lagging behind on beefing up the Frontex operation in the Cen- tral Mediterranean that replaced Italy's Mare Nostrum. Malta on the other hand, aims at welcom- ing 1,800 new citizens from the IIP, which pays Henley 4% on the €650,000 donation to the country's posterity fund. Their contribution to the UN- HCR can be paid after 36 success- ful applicants have been given their passports. Henley provides the global super- rich hassle-free travel to the Euro- pean Union and the United States by selling citizenship, so it was "on- ly natural" – said Henley chairman Christian Kalin's comments with- out any coyness – "to acknowledge the plight of millions of uprooted families who flee each day the hor- ror of war and conflict to look for international protection in other countries, and to join our forces with UN- HCR." Henley's sup- port will be pri- marily focused on funding refu- gee registration and identifica- tion documents. UNHCR's Regis- tration Program is the starting point for all humanitarian assistance. Proper registration and documen- tation are key to allowing a refugee to access services, aid or protection under the law. Registration is also fundamental to identify those refugees who are most in need, such as female headed households, separated children and people with disabilities, and provide them with appropriate protection. UNHCR registration often pro- vides the only form of documenta- tion for these people. Sadly, this step is too generally perceived as an ad- ministrative process rather than as the gateway to protection and serv- ices in other countries, and rarely at- tracts donor funding. Beyond substantial financial sup- port, Henley & Partners will also in- tegrate advocacy actions for refugees in its corporate social responsibility program by organising fundraising events and engaging its co-workers, partners and clients to help uproot- ed people around the world. The UNHCR Deputy High Com- missioner, Alexander Aleinikoff, is expected to attend the Henley & Partners Forum in Zurich, Switzer- land in May 2015, which will be the first of a long calendar of joint global activities to raise awareness about refugee challenges and solutions. A dedicated fundraising dinner for UNHCR will also be organised on 3 November 2015 in Dubai on the oc- casion of the Global Citizen Award launch at the Henley 9th Global Res- idence & Citizenship conference. Busuttil says Muscat failed persuasion test on Libya MATTHEW VELLA OPPOSITION leader Simon Bu- suttil said yesterday that it was "not true at all" that the European Union had agreed on a "concrete com- mitment of direct action in Libya" as stated by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday. The prime minister made his com- ment in Brussels where he attended the EU heads of government meet- ing, which discussed Libya, among other issues. Muscat had said that Malta was satisfied with this "positive devel- opment" in the form of a "concrete commitment", the first of its kind, to intervene with direct action in Libya. EU leaders gave the United Na- tions the go-ahead to implement measures to increase security in the troubled country, Muscat said. But Busuttil enclosed the formal conclusions of the summit, claiming that Muscat had not achieved what he termed was "concrete" commit- ments on Libya. The conclusions state that as soon as agreement to form a Libyan gov- ernment of national unity is found, "the EU stands ready with countries in the region and international part- ners, to contribute to its implemen- tation by making full use of all its instruments." The Council said that the EU's high representative, Federica Mogh- erini, will be presenting proposals to the heads of government and that the EU "will step up its engagement on counter-terrorism in the region with relevant partners." Elsewhere in the conclusions, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to ongoing UN efforts and its sup- port for UNSMIL and the unity process. On Thursday, Busuttil said the EU summit meeting was a test for Dr Muscat to persuade the EU to take concrete action about Libya. "I ex- pect the Prime Minister to persuade Member States that the situation in Libya cannot prolong any longer," he said. Busuttil said Libya required a gov- ernment of national unity for peace to be restored. "The international community and the EU must do its part to help Libya find peace and se- curity," he said, adding that, if nec- essary the EU should send a peace- keeping mission while increasing its naval presence in the Mediter- ranean. The two-day summit came to an end on Friday afternoon, with the second part of the meeting focusing on Libya. Speaking to journalists in Brussels, Joseph Muscat said that the discus- sion had been pushed by Malta and Italy, with an outcome for an EU commitment to provide support, even on the plan of security, a future national unity government. "So now it is not just Italy on its own ready to take steps in Libya but the European Union as a group of nations. The intervention will how- ever not be a military one," Muscat said. Henley: passports for the rich, charity for the poor Henley chairman Christian Kalin