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Traffickers carrying Somalis targeting Malta ‘purposely’
Frontex quarterly report claims change in modus operandi proves Malta is targeted on purpose.
30 November 2012, 12:00am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
2 min read
In the Central Mediterranean, where detections peaked in 2011 during the Arab Spring, migrants from Somalia were increasingly detected in Malta.
Malta is being purposely targeted by human traffickers, the EU's border agency Frontex has claimed in its quarterly report for April-June 2012, which has noted a significant increase in the arrivals of Somali asylum seekers
"Taking into account the professional planning of the trips, it is assumed that the modus operandi has changed and that Malta is now targeted on purpose, thereby replacing Italy as the preferred destination country for this nationality," Frontex said in its report.
READ Frontex quarterly report
The reason for this change has not yet been confirmed, however in the past Malta resettled some Somali migrants in the United States and in some EU Member States, which might be acting as a pull factor.
Frontex however said there is some evidence that facilitation networks located in Malta have tried to forward migrants to Sicily.
In contrast to the steady trends reported for the most commonly detected nationality, detections of all other top-six nationalities of illegal border crossers increased compared to a year before. These included migrants from Somalia ( 62%) who were mostly detected arriving at the border of Malta on boats from Libya.
"In the Central Mediterranean, where detections peaked in 2011 during the Arab Spring, migrants from Somalia were increasingly detected in Malta," Frontex said.
Specifically, in May 2012 the arrival of Somali migrants in Malta increased significantly while Italy registered a decrease in the number of Somali migrants apprehended in Sicily and the Pelagic Islands. The detected Somalis were mainly young males many of whom had been imprisoned by police or military forces during their travels through Libya.
In most cases, groups of males, females and minors (or families) were found on board rubber dinghies with outboard motors. A few of the boats were detected in Italian territorial waters in some distress after the migrants had called the Italian authorities for help using satellite telephones.
The boats that recently headed for Malta were either intercepted by Maltese patrol boats or made it to the island without being intercepted.
Detected Somalis were mainly young males (aged 18-24) with secondary education and low or no income. The main reason for the migration was socio-economic, but in some cases it was military conflict.
The Frontex report also shows that Maltese authorities have shared information from interviews carried out with asylum seekers: "Such preliminary interviews revealed that some of the Somali migrants arriving in Malta had been promised that they would be brought to Italy. They departed from an unknown location in Libya and travelled for up to three days in boats before either being intercepted by Maltese authorities or reaching the shore."
The average fare was said to be around USD 1,000 per person.
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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I am a somali migrant to Malta. I am 23 years old and i grew up in a country of war. never seen what it feels like to live in a peaceful country. The reason of my emmigration is to give my young children the chance to live in peaceful environment, something that i never had. Yes the red sea is shorter to cross but remember there are arabs on the otherside who are animals. there is no human rights there and i fear that my wife and children will be slaved like they do in dubai to foreigners who build their tall buildings. I never wanted to come to Malta because life for emmigrant is very hard. My intension was to go to italy but our boat broke down and water took it to Malta. The Europeans know human rights and they are very civilised. I want my children to have this mentality and one day take this to their country to Somalia. I dont think Somalis in Malta will stay in Malta. But the people in Malta are so nice to us compared to Italians or greek who kill emmigrants. my dream is to go to England who colonised somalia for hundred years and accepts somalis. But thank you Maltese for kind hospitality when we suffered so much in sea and in somalia. My baby girl is born in malta when we arrived and i call her Maltisa.
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Finally they woke up to the reality of the situation. We have been saying this for quite a long time , but we were labeled as racists . Now we have the Frontex that acknowledged what we have been saying for a long time . What is the government going to do about it ?
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Finally they woke up to the reality of the situation. We have been saying this for quite a long time , but we were labeled as racists . Now we have the Frontex that acknowledged whay we have been saying for a long time . What is the government going to do about it ?
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Then we have to do something about it ourselves, if we are being targeted? That is what common sense dictates.
Do are we capable to finally start taking legal but drastic actions?
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Could Mr. Gonzi address the Maltese nation and tell us what he now plans to do abou this situation where is creation within a nation on our littl island of Malta. Is this what he is striving for and then he wants our vote.
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Hooray for Frontex,they have finally figured out what we have been telling them for the last few years. We keep pampering these illegal immigrants so why not come to Malta? We have bleeding hearts welcoming these people because they can make a profit, yes here in Malta. Why not ask the JST and some of the NGOs how much money they receive from the Government, or even better why not ask our Government how many millions of euros they receive from the EU to cover some of the expenses to take care of these illegal immigrants? Go to Malta and if you play the right cards you might end up going to the USA. In the meantime the Human Traffickers are making millions of euros and our government is making good use of the Maltese Fleet, the AFM.
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So those of us who have been talking about this issue were right after all. So what are we suppose accept all of them that come to our shores. Our politicians better wake up before it is too late. Also, of course they want to come here. they will have it made once here. Everything will be free, including housing and they don't even have to lift a finger to work. How sad for Malta and the maltese.
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Now it's official. Malta is being targeted by Somalis. Somalia has a population running into millions. How many of them do we want in Malta? The pull factors are - the Somalis already in Malta who tell their countrymen to come here; UNHCR and the NGOs; the resettlement of some Somalis in the US and European countries; Dr Gonzi's blanket, general guarantee, given in advance, that he will always send the AFM whenever the boat people call ...
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Malta is paradise to illegal immigrants and traffickers alike.
We greet these immigrants with open arms, give them shelter, food, warmth even money to call their relative back home! We probably are also thinking of sending them off to a holiday once every so often.
As for the traffickers, Malta is once again a god sent haven given that never had or will have the guts to turn anyone away from our shores!
As long as they keep paying US$1,000 per trip, just keep them coming!!!
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Why do Somalis cross the Sahara and then cross the dangerous Med Sea instead of crossing the nearer Red Sea which is smaller than the Med? Besides, the middle east is in a boom and these can find work very easily. Can some one please explain? I were a Somali or a Sudanese I would opt for the Red Sea!
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In a few years time like 50 years,the forigners they will start saying, on this ilands there was maltese people, now few of them are left.
