95 immigrants to be resettled in France

The asylum seekers, leaving next Monday at 11:40, will be accompanied by the French Ambassador Daniel Rondeau. Meeting them at the airstrip in France will be the French Immigration Minister Eric Besson.

Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Minister of Justice and Home Affairs, wished the new immigrants well whilst declaring their success as “our success. What you will be doing in France will set an example to other EU countries to help countries follow France’s lead.”  Mifsud Bonnici said, that whilst on a European level this is known as burden-sharing, “I prefer to call it solidarity.”

The French Ambassador also wished good luck to the immigrants. In comments to MaltaToday he said: “France wants to express solidarity to Malta. The problem of immigration is not a Maltese issue but a European Union.” He described this experience as a “beginning of a new life – a new chance.”

The 94 asylum seekers were chosen out of a total of 220 persons based on a list of criteria as set out by the French immigration ministry. Earlier this year, 10 specialists from the same ministry came for 14 days in Malta were they assessed and interviewed the persons chosen. The criteria include the immigrant’s prior job experience, if he/she is employable, the ability to speak French and if they have any relatives living in France. However, priority is given to those who have been longer in Malta than others. 

The immigrants will be given free lodging for a year, vocation and job-searching training, family allowances, education and other benefits to help them adapt faster.

When MaltaToday asked the immigrants what were they expecting out of their new life in France, they all said that they are looking forward to it. Two fathers also commented that this is going to be "a good, new and stable life" for their kids were they will be able to learn French and gain a better education.  “I am going to miss Malta and working here. My boss was very helpful and kind with me and my family,” said one immigrant in particular who has been in Malta since 2005."

Fr Joseph Cassar, Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), said that the majority of the immigrants who will be deported came to Malta in 2008. Having first-hand relations with the immigrants, Fr Cassar says that “they are happy, but there is the element of the unknown ... the risk of not knowing what to find.” He also said that this is reasonable since many of these immigrants would have gone through traumatic experiences.