Malmström urges Malta to receive stranded migrants, government stands firm

Cecilia Malmstrom is a complete failure when it comes to problem solving. The immigration problem under her is growing bigger by the hour: she says a lot but the buck stop there! She should resign before she commits worse things than today!

The problem for Malta is that for far too long GonziPn were unable to take a firm stand at EU level- just obey orders from Brusels. On a Maltese level Gonzi PN and its lackeys could not give a dime about what was happening in the real world,

We will not be moved on this particular issue. Take them to your country!

When will these thousands of illegal immigrants stop coming to tiny Malta? This is the crux of the whole issue! It is clear that Commissioner Malstrom, AD, UNHCR, AI and all the rest are not interested in Malta's problems.

Dear Ms. Malstrom - when there is a crisis you suspend your holidays and find solutions rather being the same armchair critic that you have always been. A load of statements and no solution - useless employee of the European commission. Clearly you are not up to the job, suggest you vacate the place to someone more capable.

'These issues should be clarified at a later date' why not issue a decent statement, what are your plans for the migrants now not then Ms.Malmstrom ? The US led a drifting boat of Haitians back to their homeland safely just last week . Why can't the EU do the same ? Respect our rights, we are EU members or villagers ?

Brussels demands the landing of the illegals. OK land them in Brussels. Problem solved.

AS said in a previous post the owners of the vessel have the responsibility for the people. If this woman wants to be a 'do gooder' then she can send them all to her native Sweden where I am sure they will be made very welcome by the other 'brothers and sisters' that are already there

6 August 2013 Dear Commissioner Malmstrom, Will you please explain to us the Maltese people living on an Island of the size of nineteen by eight miles can hold this invasion by the rate of fifty illegal emigrants per day?. Can you please explain so called asylum seekers so much needed In EU, as you say, nobody seem willing to take them on board?. Will you please explain how the Maltese Government is being forced by you to obey The EU directives, and at the same time you are conveniently over seeing that we have Laws on the Island TOO!!Our law say that no one is entitled to enter without a permit. Therefore It is time to admit that this are no asylum seekers at all, but they are economic seekers and the more one can admit this the sooner the better! And so they do not qualify in any legal law what’s so ever for them to stay on the Island. And the EU if said that they are in need of men power, what is it that keeping the EU to established proper channels, so they can come in an orderly way? WE ARE FULL UP TO THE LIMIT ! I am all the way Behind my GOVERNMENT AND MY PRIM MINISTER JOESEPH LIKE ALL THE MALTESE PEOPLE SURE ARE!!! KEEP FERM WE ARE ALL BEHINED YOU IN BODY AND SOLE. Regards Lawrence Castagna

Unfortunately, the situation as it is unfolding is that Malta is being bullied by other countries who are well aware that such a situation will eventually destroy Malta. It is now time for all the other EU countries to either help out in this situation by IMMEDIATELY taking over the emigrants arriving on our shores, and by IMMEDIATELY reimbursing Malta the enormous expense it is incurring. On the other hand, I also feel that the tanker's captain should not just be held responsible to Malta but should actually have to pay Malta's expenses incurred by his lack of foresight or other arrangements he had to deliver the migrants in Malta. I feel that the vessel and cargo should be impounded as soon as they are in Maltese waters. Finally, I also think it is time for Malta to react strongly against all those who are bad mouthing us, including the rest of the EU if necessary.

European Commissioner Malmström urges Malta. Why doesn't the commissioner ask why the captain of this tanker decided to ignore International Maritime Law and continued his trip towards Malta instead of returning to Libya as ordered? This Captain has a maritime law to abide by and he ignored that law. Malta should ban any ships belonging to Greek company Hellenic Shipping and this captain from ever visiting Malta ports again. Commissioner Malmström should invite the captain to visit one of the other northern European ports so she can take these illegal immigrants to Sweden, where they do not want illegal immigrants either. Maybe Sweden is too good for illegal immigrants, is that it Commissioner?

Effectively these irregular boat people are now in relative safety on board a seaworthy ship. There is therefore no longer a state of imminent danger or emergency. At worst they are now stateless persons in the middle of the Mediterranean. It is now up to Europe and the UN to resolve the problem. I suggest that the EU should offer compensation and support to the captain of the ship until the matter is resolved . The EU refugee agencies should be invited to send their personnel on board to process any asylum requests and find countries of reception for those recognised as such. The truth is that for every non refugee rejected ten will be deterred and conversely for every one so accepted ten will be emboldened to make this reckless crossing.

This Ms Malmstrom seems to be an EXPERT in pontificating verbal advice. However, she seems totally INEFFECTUAL in actually doing anything about anything. In other words, she doesn't walk the talk. So, our Maltese advice to her is to PUT UP or SHUT UP and let us get on with what we think is good for us. ALBERT FENECH

Effectively these irregular boat people are now in relative safety on board a seaworthy ship. There is therefore no longer a state of imminent danger or emergency. At worst they are now stateless persons in the middle of the Mediterranean. It is now up to Europe and the UN to resolve the problem. I suggest that the EU should offer compensation and support to the captain of the ship until the matter is resolved . The EU refugee agencies should be invited to send their personnel on board to process any asylum requests and find countries of reception for those recognised as such. The truth is that for every non refugee rejected ten will be deterred and conversely for every one so accepted ten will be emboldened to make this reckless crossing.

This woman seems to be quite strong against our tiny state of Europe. She also does not seem to understand the problem beyond talk, talk and more talk, as long as the rich states in Europe are mute and do not lift a finger to help. This woman should also understand that Malta`s stand can discourage the criminals who are making money from the unfortunate...

This is sheer, unadulterated dictatorial blackmail by a stupid woman who, through ignorance, bias, or both, should never be in the responsible position she currently occupies. If the Government gives in to her demands, we might as well dissolve our Parliament and let our civil service take orders direct from Brussels. So, according to her, the master of the ship "fulfilled his humanitarian duties to save the lives of 102 people on the high sea, amongst them four pregnant women, one injured woman as well as a five months old baby”. The fact that after picking them up close to the Libyan coast, the captain’s humanitarian duties should have called for him to return them to Libya, and not to consider purely commercial interests, as he obviously did, and proceed on his course, appears to be beyond Cecilia Malmstrom’s comprehension. So, according to this latter-day Solomon, the issues regarding the responsible search and rescue authority, including the involvement of the Italian and Libyan authorities, as well as the right place of disembarkation, “should be clarified at a later stage." And, in the meantime, we get lumped with 102 illegals, right? And what happens when it finally turns out (as by right it should) that the captain should have followed the instructions of two Governments, and not have let commercial interests take precedence over humanitarian ones, what then? Will the 102 people in question be sent back to Libya, as they should have been in the first place? We should provide the captain (against payment) with food and drink so that he can continue on his way to landing the migrants elsewhere, and solve the problem he himself has created.

Lead by example Ms. Malmstrom..

Ship Masters rarely decide unanimously except in cases of utmost urgency or in cases of no consequence. They take instructions from their Owners who very often are in consultation with their lawyers. Owners should be held responsible not Malta.

If the Maltese Government gives in to what the European Commission is demanding, he might as well pack up and resign because if our Government is not capable to take care of our own interests, what is he doing there? If we can't be masters in our own home, what kind of people are we? This time, we must make sure that the EU understand the message. We are not going to be a sweeping carpet to no one, and I mean NO ONE.

If the Maltese Government gives in to what the European Commission is demanding, he might as well pack up and resign because I our Government is not capable to take care of our own interests, what is he doing there? If we can't be masters in our own home, what kind of people are we? This time, we must make sure that the EU understand the message. We are not going to be a sweeping carpet to no one, and I mean NO ONE.

Ship Masters rarely decide unanimously except in cases of utmost urgency or in cases of no consequence. They take instructions from their Owners who very often are in consultation with their lawyers. Owners should be held responsible not Malta.

Ms Malmstrom - enough is enough, we cannot keep taking all the thousands of migrants waiting in Tripoli, this is an invasion, wake up and find a decent solution. We should stand firm as the Australian government did. Is there any proof that these people were rescued at sea and not taken on board in Libya.

We are waiting for Sweden to take it's share of boat people!!! For every 100 you take we will take 1 . This is somewhat equal to population . Sweden put your money where your mouth is !!!

At this moment two facts are clear: 1. Commissioner Malmström is incompetent to deal with the illegal immigration challenge. 2. The Maltese stand four-square behind their Government.

Cecilia Malmstrom, if by your suggestion you wanted to provoke and rub the whole population of Malta the wrong way, you have succeeded admirably. How can anyone believe you now that you have the slightest interest in helping our country solve the grave problem of African immigration? I never took you seriously and today you proved me right. What do you, well-paid EU Commissioner, safe in your cushy job and safe in the extreme north of Europe care about Malta and the Maltese? In my opinion, you should submit your resignation forthwith because you have shwon you do not care about the population of an EU member state and you do not deserve to be paid a salary out of our taxes. Kindly send your resignation to Barroso today and state that it is not open to negotiation and is irrevocable. I hope to see you gone by tomorrow and safely installed in Stockholm where you can do less damage. I, for one, have no faith in you as Commissioner. Please be gone.

How can this arrogant person demand that we should accept and permit these illegal immigrants to disembark on our shores? This is the kind of solidarity we are receiving from the EU? If Ms. Mallmstrom have the interest of these illegal immigrants at heart, she should have advised the ship's Captain to return to Libya and disembark these immigrants there or she can always advise her own Government to take them to Sweeden. Otherwise she can go to hell.

Din l-istess wahda li suppost qed tghin lil Malta ssolvi l-problema akuta tal-immigrazzjoni billi tipperswadi lill-istati membri l-ohra tal-EU jixxerjaw l-immigranti? Jaqaw trid t***du f's***ha bina din? Ghalhekk dhalna fl-UE biex tigi din titne**ek bina f'wiccna? Din x'hasbitna lilna? Dawn tal-Ewropa ta' Fuq, bhal pajjizha, kollha jarawna dubbien lilna tal-Ewropa tan-nofs-in-nhar. Jekk trid tipprovoka bi kliemha, nahseb li jkun tajjeb li xihadd ighidilha x'ghandha taghmel jekk trid tiddeverti ftit...

I am all for the EU. I voted for it. I think it was a good thing for Malta but I'm sorry to say Ms.Mallmstrom is simply not up to her post as commissioner. First of all she is trying to bully the government into taking action it does not want to take and second of all she is showing that she would rather sweep things under the carpet and let Malta deal with the problem ALONE!! So much for solidarity!

Why doesn't Malmstrom urge her country to take them in - it is easy to ask someone else, that means us. The International Law this time round is right and supports Malta's stand. Malmstrom is becoming a liability to Malta and she can take a running jump and take her Salamis to Libya where they belong.

This hypocrite dishonest politician has only a couple of weeks ago promised to help Malta solve this EUROPEAN CREATED AND MAINTAINED human problem! The Maltese government should respond simply by informing Brussels that Malta is considering its position in relation to the Lisbon treaty if EU does not relieve Malta of its 16,000 illegal immigrants within a week. Chi bolla, sbolla, and what's man-forged can be man-dissolved.

An open letter to Ms. Cecilia Malmstrom Dear Ms. Malmstrom, With all due respect to your position and responsibilities that come with it, please allow me to try and make you understand the difficulties that the EU has placed on our country due to a lack of interest to a problem that keeps growing and has no end in sight. You seem assured that Malta should once again serve as a landing port for Europe’s biggest headache. Encouraging our government to accept these people will once again serve to reaffirm our beliefs that the Maltese people generosity is being regarded as stupidity. May I remind you that there are 28 states in the EU and over the years their efforts for burden sharing has not been an efficient example. It is shameful that Malta has had better assistance from the United States than from all of its European Union membership states in resettling these immigrants. Considering the lack of interest from the EU for fairness in burden sharing and your insistence with our government to accept these illegal immigrants perhaps a compromise can be reached with an agreement on the following recommendations. • The EU will pay Malta the sum of One Million Euros for every man, woman and child that is granted shelter on our island starting from these 102 immigrants and to continue until this immigration problem is solved. These obligation will create a Migration Fund audited by the EU and safeguarded by the Maltese government and would be used to check for security, decease and well being of these individuals. It will also finance better conditions, clothing and medical needs. It will also contribute towards providing a financial package to try and resettle these people elsewhere. The power of persuasion should be followed by concrete evidence that your Home Affairs Commission is truly focused to solve this problem and relieve Malta from this burden of financing the costs of all these immigrants. Our small population has always been generous and understanding yet somehow the EU continues to demand an even higher contribution from their taxes. One would hope that you will understand that the Maltese government cannot accept to sacrifice the rights of its citizens for dependable social services, health and education due to escalating costs associated with all these illegal immigrants that you are so in favor to place on our Maltese Tax Payers Account. As the saying goes, ”let’s see the EU put their money where their mouth is.” Thank you. A concerned citizen.

Dear Ms DeMalmström, it would be a great pleasure if you come over here and sort it out yourself and take them back with you in your heaven europe instead of sitting behind your desk and give illegal orders. Are you involved too???????? How do you know that these are fleeing their country because of persecution. This is Organised crime. Stop pointing fingers because 4 are pointing at you

This is sheer, unadulterated dictatorial blackmail by a stupid woman who, through ignorance, bias, or both, should never be in the responsible position she currently occupies. If the Government gives in to her demands, we might as well dissolve our Parliament and let our civil service take orders direct from Brussels. So, according to her, the master of the ship "fulfilled his humanitarian duties to save the lives of 102 people on the high sea, amongst them four pregnant women, one injured woman as well as a five months old baby”. The fact that after picking them up close to the Libyan coast, the captain’s humanitarian duties should have called for him to return them to Libya, and not to consider purely commercial interests, as he obviously did, and proceed on his course, appears to be beyond Cecilia Malmstrom’s comprehension. So, according to this latter-day Solomon, the issues regarding the responsible search and rescue authority, including the involvement of the Italian and Libyan authorities, as well as the right place of disembarkation, “should be clarified at a later stage." And, in the meantime, we get lumped with 102 illegals, right? And what happens when it finally turns out (as by right it should) that the captain should have followed the instructions of two Governments, and not have let commercial interests take precedence over humanitarian ones, what then? Will the 102 people in question be sent back to Libya, as they should have been in the first place? We should provide the captain (against payment) with food and drink so that he can continue on his way to landing the migrants elsewhere, and solve the problem he himself has created.

I would like to know why Minister Tonio Borg in 2002 removed the opt out clause,so Malta started being used as a terminal point for illegal immigrants.The political class will suffer in the European Elections.

You can take them to Sweden and the issues will be clarified at a later stage. If you don't like it then shut up.

Why two weights two measures Ms Malmstrom? When Italy ordered the Salamis to pick up the immigrants and take them to the nearest port which was Libya everything was fine, you didn't issue any statement saying that Italy was breaking International Law. But now since the ship's captain disobeyed orders and is near Malta, you say that Malta would be disobeying International Law if it does the same as Italy did?

EU ...BLA BLA BLA ......WE ARE FED UP OF YOU LOT .

Ms. Cecilia Malmström a Swedish national is urging Malta to accept immigrants that technically should be in Libya. I suggest that Ms. Malmström shows some solidarity with these people and fly them over to her country where they would not have as large an impact as they would have if they were accepted in Malta. This because of many reasons, several of them listed below: Population Density (number of people per square kilometer) -- Sweden 20 -- Malta 1296 GDP per capita -- Sweden 40,900 -- Malta 25,800 GDP (purchasing power parity) -- Sweden 386.6 -- Malta 10.98 Military expenditures - (percent of GDP) -- Sweden 1.5% -- Malta 0.7% Net migration rate (migrant(s)/1,000 population) ) -- Sweden 1.65 -- Malta 2 Another important reason why Sweden should accept these poor people is because Malta has already had her fare share of immigrants while Sweden is still lagging behind. Ms. Malmström should also take note that Malta, unlike Sweden, never, NEVER, colonized other nations. Historically Sweden has even been tarnished with colonizing African countries and even the with slave trade, so now they should be more eager to make up for old sins committed. We are proud that Malta never occupied other nations unlike some of the EU countries who now hypocritically criticize Malta while just a few years ago they enslaved African countries for their material gain and slavery.

Malmstrom, be just as quick and tell us first which of EU countries is going to take them.The Maltese people are sick and tired of all this B... coming from the EU regarding Malta's plight on this issue.

Yes Ms. Malmström we do our humanitarian duty and let them disembark in the process encouraging others to do the same, ignore instructions and come, pig-headedly to Malta. How many of these poor souls will your country, Sweden take to share the burden? And the other fellow member states? Give us the figures first and then we discuss such humanitarian duties. Otherwise it would have been better not to intervene.

why dont ms malmstrom organise an airlift to her country....the matter would be solved in a jiffy

Issues to be clarified at a later stage means one hundred years from now. The Maltese authorities are the people who voted in the present administration with a never before majority of votes in the Maltese political history of 36,000 votes. No, this time round EU Commissioner Cecilia Malstrom should be ignored. The absolute majority of the Maltese population is behind the Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat.

She better suggest her government to receive the stranded migrants, since whenever we try to do something in favour of our country she intervenes against us. However I recommend her to do her utmost to help them allocate them in her country

These Africans (Illegal and economical emigrants) are causing Malta a Lot of trouble with the EU,we need to get rid of them for our own good.VIVA MALTA.

Get the women and children and send the rest back , if Malta accepts this situation ...can you imagine what the future holds !! Enough is simply enough ...Once upon a time we used to blame Gaddafi ...as far as i know he is DEAD ...What the EU should do is send a delegation to Libya which we helped get rid of the regime just in case someone forgot ....this is there thank you !!! ....and get to the bottom of this highly organised criminal ring once and for all instead of talking rubbish and telling us what to do .. end of story !!

Dear Cecilia Malstrom, do you think it's High time that you and your elite club insists that we should hold a Referendum about all this? Do you think that the EU BIG HEADS have the Divine Right to interfere in other countries administration? Do you this that because Malta is so tiny compared we should swallow all you orders, instructions and whatever you decide? What about our HUMAN RIGHTS? Are we entitled for any of these? How come when Malta is involved all hell break loose and when so other GREAT BIG Country does worse then none of you open your mouth? Have you smack the Australian backside because they don't want any illegal Immigrants, and what have you done to the British Government for doing crackdowns on illegal immigrants? Don't you consider your attitude towards us as unacceptable (its two ways and two measure) and then you speak about democracy and human rights> Whose may I ask?? The Maltese Nation should stand up and ask for another referendum - Just a YES or NO (Do we want to stay in this undemocratic, and anti Maltese Club? NO