Muscat wants summit to be first step towards ‘global migration system’

The Valletta summit should be the point of departure towards creating a global system to help countries deal with migration, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

“The current international migration laws are cut off from reality – both of people fleeing their countries of origin and of people in countries of destination who fear migration waves,” Muscat said in a speech at the Mediterranean Conference Centre ahead of the summit’s working session.

He said that the potential system- which he dubbed a “Bretton Woods for migration – should also mechanisms to clamp down strongly on human smugglers, and “emergency mechanisms” that will automatically kick in when a crisis emerges.

“The Mediterranean has become a sea of death, but we must remember that only those parents who consider the sea to be safer than the land take their children on those journeys. That alone is enough for us to understand the gravity of the situation.

He hailed the EU for being the only continent seeking unity on the migration matter, and reiterated his call for a quick solution to the Libya civil war.

European Council president Donald Tusk said that the return of migrants who don’t qualify for asylum is a “prerequisite” for well-managed migration policy.

“Voluntary return is always preferable, but if that’s not an option then non-voluntary return is necessary,” he said.

He added that the EU must ensure that development aid to Africa is more targeted, help African countries build open governments that respect human rights, open legal migration channels, and fight human traffickers “whose only motif is their own profit”.