Metsola repeats call for EU distribution of asylum seekers

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola has reiterated that the European Union should agree on a binding mechanism and quota for the distribution of asylum seekers amongst all member states.

“This is not an issue of Italy or Malta or Greece, but of every single EU member states,” Metsola said during a European plenary debate with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.

“This is crucial and coming from Malta, I could not but underline this point again.”

1,350 people applied for asylum in Malta in 2014, 40% less than the 2,245 applications in 2015. However, it was still the fourth highest rate of registered asylum applicants in relation to the size of the national population, with 3.2 applications per 1000 inhabitants, behind only Sweden, Hungary and Austria.

31% of these applicants were Libyan, while 23% were Syrian, and 9% were Somali.

“We know that the answer is not fortress Europe,” Metsola said. “We need a response that has solidarity at its very core. While we need to go after the human trafficking networks that are responsible for the deaths of thousands, we also need to examine the issue of humanitarian visas and understand that our resources should be given to those who really need it

“We therefore also need to look at the return of those who are not eligible for protection in Europe, always in line with the principle of non-refoulement.”