Young political figures want more effective measures on migrant’s issue

A group comprising of Kevin Plumpton, the President of the 'Moviment Zghazagh Partit Nazzjonalista' (MZPN) and PN candidate for the 2014 European Parliament elections, Kostantinos Kyranakis , the President of the Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP), and the vice-President of the same party, Riccardo Pozzi, have urged Europe's decision-makers to take immediate action on the issues of irregular migration, human trafficking and smuggling.

Amongst its aims, the group is proposing a better-equipped FRONTEX operation in which Europe's borders are better protected, more EU funds allocated to the Mediterranean border countries to address the needs arising from the continuous arrivals of asylum seekers, a more effective migrant relocation plan, and more tangible ways of combating and abolishing human trafficking and smuggling.

The three young politicians, who were speaking at a press conference outside the Safi Detention Centre, recently visited Lampedusa, making it a point to travel by boat. They spent a total of twenty eight hours at sea in order to try and understand, at first-hand, the traumas that many migrants go through.

"We wanted to experience - albeit not to the same degree - the things that these people go through. This is a journey faced by hundreds who cross the Mediterranean Sea every year in search of hope of a better life," Plumpton said.

Plumpton said that, whilst he appreciated the visit to Lampedusa, he could not compare the situation over there to the one in Malta.

"Lampedusa certainly has a problem in this regard but for them it is an emergency issue.  In the case of Malta, the problem is a long-term one," he said.

Plumpton also said that the European Union needed to start considering Malta, Italy and other Mediterranean countries as a border of Europe

"All the EU member states have to start understanding that Malta - as well as the other Mediterranean countries in Malta's position - is not only protecting its own borders but Europe's as well. The fact is that we cannot keep on standing by whilst people are dying. We need a leap from discussion to action," he said.

Kyranakis said that there is still much xenophobia in Europe and that such measures could help to cut it out.

"The current migrant situation is creating a lot of hate and xenophobia amongst many Europeans. Our role is to lobby as much as possible with various European leaders to find better solutions to the current situation," he said.