Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/722943
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2016 4 News Frontex in the dark over Italian rescues JURGEN BALZAN AS Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's political future hinges on the result of next month's constitu- tional referendum, Italy is coordi- nating the rescue operations in the central Mediterranean in which at least 13,000 asylum seekers have been rescued at sea in just under a week. However, the Italian authorities are not sharing the data with Fron- tex – the EU agency coordinating external border control – and is keeping the number of people res- cued under wraps. A Frontex spokesperson told MaltaToday that although the agency is actively participating in the rescue operations, the Italian authorities "are not sharing" the data on how many people were res- cued or how many people lost their lives last week. Sources close to the Armed Forces of Malta said that Frontex normally holds and provides such data and "if they don't have the numbers then information is being withheld by the Italians." Questions sent to the Italian Na- vy remain unanswered. On Wednesday, the AFM was asked to assist in the rescue of asy- lum seekers off the coast of Libya and its vessel P61 landed 272 peo- ple in Catania, Sicily. According to Doctors Without Borders, which operates a rescue ship in the Mediterranean, the number of rescued asylum seekers since Sunday reached 13,000 on Friday. But these numbers have yet to be confirmed as MaltaToday is informd that thousands of asylum seekers are at sea on a daily basis. So far this year, (as of 21 August), 269,244 arrivals were recorded by sea to Europe, according to the In- ternational Organisation of Migra- tion. Of these, 3,164 are indicated to be dead or missing. As of 24 August, 100,244 arrived in Italy through the Central Medi- terranean route, with none arriving in Malta. On the same route, 2,725 deaths were recorded, with the number of fatalities in 2016 higher than in the same period last year. In October, Italians will vote on constitutional reforms champi- oned by Renzi, which include plans to strip the Italian Senate of much of its power. It is thought that the numbers might be concealed by the Italian authorities because of the impor- tance of the referendum for Renzi's political project. Concerns on migration, along with fears on Italy's slouching economy and fragile banking sys- tem could swing the vote against Renzi, which could see him resign and trigger another political crisis in Italy and the EU. The closure of European borders means that refugees have been left bottled up inside Italy, which is struggling to find places to host them. Italian reception centres now shelter 145,000 migrants and refugees, an increase of over 50% since the beginning of the year. Thousands of asylum seekers are "racing against the clock" to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Europe before summer ends, with authorities in the conflict-torn country at a loss about how to stem the flow. Most of the migrants from the Horn of Africa and the west of the continent set out from the Libyan town of Sabratha, just 300 kilome- tres across the Mediterranean from the Italian island of Lampedusa. On Friday, Italian foreign min- ister Paolo Gentiloni urged "the utmost collaboration" from Libya which is torn between opposing political factions and militias as well as by Islamic State fighters who were recently driven out from the coastal city of Sirte. TIM DIACONO FOREIGN affairs minister George Vella has confirmed with Malta- Today that Malta has so far con- tributed just €50,000 to an emer- gency trust fund for Africa that was launched at last year's Valletta Summit between European and African leaders. Despite Muscat hailing the Val- letta Summit as a "milestone" and a government-commissioned study indicating that the summit and the CHOGM earned the country an equivalent of €550 million worth of publicity, Malta only contributed €250,000 to the fund – less than half the amount it earns through the sale of one "golden passport". Vella said that Malta will pay the remaining €200,000 to the fund in separate €50,000 tranches over the next four years. The fund is intended to support economic growth and security and to address human rights abuses on the continent, so as to stymie mi- gration of African citizens to Eu- rope. In total, €1.88 billion has been al- located to the trust fund, with €1.8 billion coming from EU institu- tions and the remaining €1.8 mil- lion from 25 EU member states, along with Norway and Switzer- land. The Netherlands was the most generous of the member states, pledging €15 million to the fund, followed by Italy which pledged €10 million, and Finland which pledged €5 million. A European Commission spokes- person told MaltaToday that €900 million have already been approved to fund specific programmes in fa- vour of the Sahel region and Lake Chad basin, and the Horn of Africa and North Africa regions. Slow relocation Malta has so far only relocated 50 refugees from Italy and Greece out of the 131 it had pledged to take in last year. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has repeatedly said that Malta's participation in the EU's relocation scheme is a sign of the island's will- ingness to lead by example in its conviction that countries should show solidarity with their migrant- burdened neighbours. However, EU figures released on Thursday show that Malta has only accepted 50 refugees from the two burdened countries, with the lat- est nine arriving last week. This is despite Malta seeing its intake of asylum seekers plummet at a time when migration flows to Europe have reached levels unseen on the continent since World War II. "The relocation of asylum seek- ers to Malta requires the referral of persons by Greece and Italy," home affairs minister Carmelo Abela told MaltaToday. "It bears noting that the programme is pro- ceeding according to schedule and that it is anticipated that it would be completed by September 2017, as stipulated by the relevant Coun- cil decisions." In September last year, EU member states agreed to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers and refu- gees from Italy and Greece, in a move that Muscat had hailed as a major breakthrough. "Those against such quotas are not seeing beyond the tips of their noses. If we say 'no' to the redis- tribution of asylum seekers to our own country, the EU will criticise us for wanting solidarity only when it suits us, and not because we be- lieve in it. And if you believe in solidarity you have to work for it," Muscat had said. Yet the take-up of the scheme has proven sluggish, and indeed only 4,439 refugees have been relo- cated so far, a miserable 4.5% of the pledged number. Austria, Poland and Hungary have not accepted a single refugee amongst themselves, and the latter is set to hold a refer- endum on the resettlement scheme in October. Malta has taken in 38.17% of the asylum seekers it had pledged to relocate from Italy and Greece back in September, meaning that it is closer to fulfilling its set quota than any other EU country. However, unlike most other EU countries, Malta has not been af- fected by the migration crisis – that saw over a million refugees claim asylum in Europe last year and over 240,000 people did the same in the first quarter of this year. Indeed, since Italy started taking in all immigrants crossing from Libya – including those found in Maltese waters – the number of asylum seekers has plummeted dramatically. Only 94 asylum seek- ers arrived on Malta's shores in 2015, a far cry from the thousands it used to receive in previous years. At the same time, the Maltese economy grew at a higher pace than most Eurozone countries and unemployment has sunk to a re- cord low of 4%, lower than that of any EU country. Indeed, more than half of new jobs on the island are now being taken up by foreigners. Since the beginning of the year, over 163,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Greece and 100,000 in It- aly. Greek migration minister Yan- nis Mouzalas said last week that 7,000 people are currently awaiting relocation in the country, but that it is not receiving any answers from EU member states obliged to ac- cept them. Italian interior minister Ange- lino Alfano said that Germany has pledged to take in "hundreds of refugees" each month in an effort to save the scheme and urged other EU leaders to follow Germany's lead. He praised Chancellor An- gela Merkel for wanting to be on the "right side of history" – by wel- coming over a million refugees last year, even if it might cost her votes. "If Germany also takes in some of our [refugees]… then the message will be extremely strong, because if Germany can do it, then so can all those who have not put in the huge effort Germany already has." tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Sources close to the Armed Forces of Malta said that Frontex normally holds and provides such data and "if they don't have the numbers then information is being withheld by the Italians" The Valletta Summit in 2015, where world leaders gaze at a €250,000 monument specially constructed for the occasion. But Malta has so far only paid €50,000 of its own €250,000 trust fund pledge Only €50,000 paid by Malta to Africa Trust Fund