Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/509499
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 MAY 2015 News 13 tor Scheme", De Bono said. This is because naturalisation gives the opportunity to individu- als who have built considerable ties and engaged with Maltese society, through work and residence, to be accepted as a full member of Mal- tese society. "This gives additional rights to citizens of the EU and other coun- tries, denotes a sense of perma- nency and can be seen as one of the stages mapping the integration of migrants." According to De Bono, citizen- ship acquisition by naturalisation takes on new significance in these times characterised by more inter- national migration, because more people are immigrating without having the traditional blood ties to Maltese society. "This does not make their engage- ment and integration into Maltese society any less or more difficult, and this should be enough to quali- fy them for citizenship." IIP raises issue of discrimination – Jason Azzopardi One major development is that citizenship through naturalisation can now be awarded to partici- pants in Malta's Individual Inves- tor Programme. Jason Azzopardi suggests "there is a strong probability" that the changes to Malta's citizenship law to introduce the programme has resulted in a "breach of human rights due to discrimination". Discrimination applies to all cas- es where people are arbitrarily ac- corded different treatment in the absence of any objective reasons. One case in point is that while an article of the law stipulates that those applying for citizenship through the IIP programme are awarded citizenship after a resi- dence period of 12 months, people who acquire citizenship through marriage to a Maltese citizen have to wait for five years. "It is only a question of time be- fore someone will challenge this state of affairs in the constitutional court," Azzopardi said. debate on citizenship law Former home affairs minister Manuel Mallia (pictured) has denied fast-tracking the naturalisation of his wife Elena Codruta (right) Tender MEAIM/EU PROG/3/2015 – Provision of Consultancy Services for the Drafting of an Integrated Territorial Development Strategy for Gozo 2015-2020 T h e E U F u n d s P r o g r a m m i n g a n d P o l i c y C o o r d i n a t i o n D i v i s i o n w i t h i n t h e M i n i s t r y f o r E U A f f a i r s a n d I m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e E l e c t o r a l M a n i f e s t o n o t i f i e s t h a t e l e c t r o n i c t e n d e r s i n r e s p e c t o f t h e f o l l o w i n g n o t i c e w i l l b e r e c e i v e d u p u n t i l t h e 2 6 t h M a y 2 0 1 5 a t 9 : 3 0 a m . T e n d e r s a r e t o b e s u b m i t t e d o n l i n e O N L Y o n : ( h t t p : / / w w w . e t e n d e r s . g o v . m t ) . Operational Programmes I & II - Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life Empowering People for More Jobs for a Better Quality of Life Part-financed by the European Union: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF) ; and Cohesion Fund Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds (70% ERDF, 30% ESF) and 15% National Funds Investing in your Future