Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/640308
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2016 3 MIRIAM DALLI MALTA is currently expecting its first arrivals of asylum seekers un- der the European Union's refugee relocation programme – a process that has so far not come up to ex- pectations. Malta pledged to take in 131 asy- lum seekers, but just under 20% of them are yet to be processed. "Malta is currently expecting the first arrivals. It has only recently received six names from Greece and 15 from Italy, a total of 21," a spokesperson for the Ministry for Home Affairs told MaltaToday. In September last year, EU mem- ber states agreed to the relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers and refugees from Italy and Greece, as a strategy meant to counteract the denunciation of a Fortress Europe which was not living up to its values of "solidarity". But the process has been very slow, with the EU Commissioner for Mi- gration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, urging member states to speed up the implementation of the pro- gramme: only 497 refugees have been relocated so far. "The results are very poor. So right now we have to step up our efforts for all member states to do their part," Avramopoulos told a press conference in Brussels this week. "We need urgently to switch gears on relocation." Questioned by MaltaToday, the Ministry for Home Affairs admit- ted that the pace was "perhaps not as quick as one would wish". "Nonetheless, the relocation of persons is ongoing and is expected to continue throughout the com- ing two years. It may also be noted that this is the first time that the European Union is conducting re- locations on such a wide scale and lessons will have to continue to be learnt on how to improve such a mechanism," the ministry said. "It is definitely a huge change from the large, unregulated flows that our country was experiencing until three years ago." A parliamentary reply tabled by Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela confirmed that the number of irregular migrants reaching Mal- ta's shores in 2015 dropped drasti- cally when compared to 2008 and 2013. The numbers dropped from 2,775 arrivals in 2008 to just 100 in 2015. The figure is part of the much larger total of irregular migrants and refu- gees who sought shelter in Europe: over a million irregular migrants and refugees reached Europe last year, mostly from Syria, Africa and South Asia. The first group of asylum seekers under the relocation programme will reach Malta after the necessary security checks are carried out. Ac- cording to the ministry, the asylum seekers will be accommodated at an initial reception centre, after which they will be "offered the possibility" to stay in an open accommodation centre. They will from then on go through the asylum procedure. The exhaustive asylum process that will take place in Malta is also a reflection of the member states' delays in implementing the neces- sary preparations for the operation of the programme. The foreseen rollout of 11 identi- fied hotspots – special centres for registering migrants in Greece and Italy – by the Italian and Greek au- thorities has been slow, due in part to the need to build them from scratch and to shortcomings in in- frastructure, staffing and coordina- tion. Only three hotspots – in Lampedusa, Pozzallo and Les- vos – are fully operational. The Lampedusa and Pozzallo hotspots have reached a 100% fingerprinting rate for the most recent disembar- kations. Official EU data show that Italy is still far behind the rate necessary to achieve the overall target to relo- cate 39,600 people in need of inter- national protection in two years. In total, 279 applicants have been re- located to date, with 200 outstand- ing relocation requests having been sent to other member states. "So far, only 15 member states have made relocation places avail- able with pledges to receive 966 people, while 20 member states have appointed liaison officers to support the process on the ground. The low implementation rate is largely due to the limited arrivals of eligible migrants on the Italian ter- ritory," the European Commission said this week. In the case of Greece, the reloca- tion of 66,400 people has started very slowly with only 218 reloca- tions so far. Only 15 member states have offered places to Greece for relocations, providing for 1,081 places, while 16 member states have appointed liaison officers to support the process on the ground. In December 2015, the Com- mission approved an €80 million programme to support reception capacity in Greece, including a net- work of 20,000 places for asylum seekers run by UNHCR, as well as supporting the establishment of 7,000 places in the hotspots areas. mdalli@mediatoday.com.mt News urging member states to speed up the implementation of the pro- and refugees reached Europe last year, mostly from Syria, Africa and Slow start to migrant relocation process Malta expecting first group of 21 asylum seekers under pledged EU quota Emergency relocation pledges Place made available Remaining places from 160,000 Austria - 1,953 Belgium 30 3,806 Bulgaria 1,302 1,302 Croatia - 968 Cyprus 30 320 Czech Republic - 2,691 Denmark - N/A Estonia - 329 Finland 150 1,967 France 900 19,694 Germany 40 27,515 Greece - N/A Hungary - 1,294 Ireland 20 600 Italy - N/A Latvia 481 481 Lithuania 40 667 Luxembourg 90 527 Malta 131 131 Netherlands 100 5,947 Poland 100 6,182 Portugal 100 2,927 Romania 300 4,180 Slovakia - 902 Slovenia - 567 Spain - 9,305 Sweden 50 3,727 United Kingdom 300 N/A PN uses Gaffarena backdrop for corruption claim on fuel SHADOW energy minister Mar- these Portelli has accused the gov- ernment of forcing the people to "pay for corruption out of their own pockets" by keeping fuel prices at a high price. Speaking at a press conference outside the J Gaff petrol station in Qormi – notorious for having been shuttered for five years over illegal construction, before being contro- versially allowed to re-open in 2014 – Portelli accused the energy minis- ter of bleeding millions by ordering Enemalta to hedge fuel from SO- CAR, the Azerbaijani state-owned company. "Although the market price of [crude] oil is at its lowest ever level, at some $25 a barrel, fuel prices in Malta are amongst the most ex- pensive in Europe. "Rather than re- ducing fuel prices for the benefit of consumers, the Prime Minister has chosen to keep them high and claim that he is keeping them stable." Portelli recounted that it was an Auditor General's inquiry that had found that energy minister Konrad Mizzi had given a ministerial direc- tion to Enemalta to hedge fuel pur- chases with SOCAR – a deal that cost Enemalta around €14 million. "That is a clear and concrete exam- ple on how Maltese households and businesses are being made to pay for the Labour government's corrup- tion," Portelli claimed. St Paul's Bay mayor Graziella Galea – a PN election candidate – harked back to 2003, when crude oil prices were at a similar level. "Back then, diesel cost 61c per litre and petrol cost 83c. Diesel now costs €1.22 per litre and petrol €1.32. This means that people are being robbed 61c for every litre of diesel they purchase and 49c for every litre of petrol." When using the 'corruption' word, set the stage....