[WATCH] Byron Camilleri: 'No sensitivity with economic migrants'

Home Affairs minister Byron Camilleri said there should be no sensitivity with economic irregular migrants that do not qualify for asylum.

Camilleri was asked whether it was right to boast about records related to the return of people going through hardship and seeking desperate opportunities. 

“There should be no sensitivity with economic migrants. Those people are taking the place of those that really need the protection and asylum. We have to be really tough on those that are abusing the system. They have no right for asylum,” Camilleri said. 

In a press conference on the Budget for 2022, Camilleri spoke on the subject of migration.

He said Malta is working hard on three pillars: 1. reducing the arrivals from the place of origin, 2. the repatriation of those migrants that are not deserving of asylum and 3. burden sharing with other European Union countries.

“One of my initial aims as a minister was to enact tougher measures against those abusing the system. The number of those that came to our country and the EU and did not deserve asylum was too large. We truly believe in a system that helps those that require asylum but is tough on those that do not deserve it," added Camilleri.

He said this year Malta has seen a record number of migrants returned to their country of origin. He said that the next step is to close the Marsa detention centre for good and give back the place back to the Marsa community.

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