Malta told to stop whining and keep a sense of perspective
Malta has been politely told by the European Commission to stop whining and keep a sense of perspective on the matter of immigration from Libya.
So now the Maltese parliament, which refused to debate the Libyan crisis which has caused the problem in the first place, will hold an “urgent debate” on Monday.
If these people were not so damned pathetic, I would find them amusing. I can’t find them funny because they run the country in which I live. So they make me cross and angry instead.
The Times, today
MALTA ISOLATED ON URGENT APPEAL TO EU OVER MIGRANTS
Urgent debate on Monday
Ivan Camilleri, Brussels
Malta’s request to activate an emergency mechanism that triggers obligatory solidarity among all EU member states in cases of a sudden influx of migrants was yesterday rejected by EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.
Just back in Brussels from her two-day visit to Tunisia, Ms Malmström did not mince words: “There is not yet an emergency situation and so there is no need to activate the EU’s temporary protection mechanism.
“The number of immigrants coming to Europe from Libya has to be much higher. Currently, we see no need to activate the temporary protection directive,” she said, in a direct snub of Malta’s request.
Just over 800 people from Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia made it to Malta from Libya on three wooden boats within the space of 24 hours earlier this week.
According to European Commission sources, Malta last Wednesday officially asked Brussels to submit a proposal to member states to activate the temporary protection directive.
This would mean the refugees could be given temporary protection status of up to two years and be relocated to other member states.
This mechanism, in place since 2001, has never so far been put into practice. Activating it requires a formal proposal by the Commission and an endorsement of a qualified majority of member states.
The Commission has ruled out the possibility of putting forward such a proposal, at least for the time being.
Malta is thought to be alone in asking for it, as not even Italy, which has seen thousands of Tunisians and Libyans crossing over to Lampedusa, supports the idea.
According to Italy’s Permanent Representative to the EU Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, “there is not yet a massive influx” of migrants which could justify activating the mechanism.
Asked directly whether Italy would back Malta’s call, Mr Nelli Feroci said “so far, the situation is being examined in Rome and we don’t think the conditions are met to trigger the temporary protection mechanism”.
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http://fsrn.org/audio/thousands-migrants-stranded-transit-camps-libya%E2%80%99s-border/8295
The violence in Libya has forced more than 400,000 people to flee the country according to the International Organization for Migration. About half of these refugees have sought shelter in Tunisia. While most of the foreign workers have been repatriated to their home countries, some 5,000 migrants remain stranded in the transit camps along Tunisia’s border with Libya, and hundreds more are arriving every day. From the Tunisian-Libyan border, Marine Olivesi reports.
Dear Joseoh and Tonio, you see what happens when you stay on the fence. Sorry we all know that one cannot have the cake and eat it. Bil-Malti jew hobla jew tredda’. You (I was going to say we) failed the test. Regretfully so.
The irony is that Cecilia Malmström and her mentors would love to see this mechanism triggered, but cannot rush it through at this stage for fear of fierce resistance by other member states. So what she’s telling Malta is: ‘Not yet, but keep on whining, and please whine louder when it gets worse.’
Cecilia Malmström is one of the finest of EU apparatchiks, which is why she’s been entrusted with a heavyweight porfolio – the EU’s ‘interior ministry’. I’ve seen her in action during MEPs question time – she evades, distorts, whitewashes, twists and turns in ways that can only reflect her excellent grooming for the job.
Cecilia Malmström is the current cog in the EU’s quest for its very own fully functional criminal justice system, where laws and justice systems are not only harmonised and coordinated, and where Europol and Eurojust are not just liaison offices, but where only one law of the land exists and where a fully-fledged, centralised EU executive can operate in ways that can reach every corner of our homes, pockets and minds.
But hey, look at the bright side. Cecilia loves us. Take the EU Biometrics agenda, for example: the Maltese are Cecilia’s guinea-pigs – her favourite!
Kev, we could revisit the past where we had a multitude of nations always at war. It seems you have a serious chip on your shoulder. Europe is not perfect nor will it ever be, but it is at the best it has been since history began to be written.
Your alternative to this relative peace and prosperity eludes me. I am a realist. I can accept an imperfect Europe that tries hard and in most cases succeeds.
If you trust in the capabilities of unelected bureaucrats to engineer and plan our lives and our futures from a supranational ivory tower, then there is no alternative for you. I hold no chip. I want more critical-minded debate; one that is not restrained by governments’ lies that get repeated and enhanced by the mainstream media.
Incidentally, war, or the fear of war, is the best solution to eventually bring about supranational and global control – that’s power in the hands of the unelected few.
You’re correct. Kevvy does have a chip on his shoulder. In fact, on both shoulders. In Canada we call them ‘Buffalo chips’. Guess what they’re made of.
Very impressed that Kevvy is allowed off from his kitchen and cleaning duties to attend question period of the European Parliament. Must be fascinating for him.
“…that’s power in the hands of the unelected few.”
As it always was, is and should be – Kev is just pissed off he’s not one of the few.
@Kev – the average human reaches an IQ of 100. Majtezwel give power to a lobotomised goat – hence the few.
Who elected you, Kevin?
Habib, kif nghidu Malta, parlajt hafna u ma ghidt xejn.
“Cecilia Malmström is the current cog in the EU’s quest for its very own fully functional criminal justice system, where laws and justice systems are not only harmonised and coordinated, and where Europol and Eurojust are not just liaison offices, but where only one law of the land exists and where a fully-fledged, centralised EU executive can operate in ways that can reach every corner of our homes, pockets and minds”
By your own admission, the EU is on a quest to have its own fully functional criminal justice system and to harmonise laws in pan-European fashion.
Also, where Europol and Eurjust are not only liason offices….but….are instead…the laws of the land? Doesn’t make sense. This is what happens when you go rabid, kev, and start foaming at the mouth.
A fully fledged centralised EU (you’re one to talk about being against centralisation, being a stalwart proponent of an era in Malta where centralisaton was the order of the day) executive can operate in ways that can reach every corner of our homes, minds and pockets.
Indeed, kev – seems to me they’ve already reached and lined your pockets well enough to begin with. And if you’re afraid of the nefarious EU reaching into your home and mind (such as it is), then what are you waiting for? Why don’t you scurry the hell out of Brussels and take refuge somewhere safe…like Fukushima, for example?
Here’s an old remedy, Etienne. Squeeze two ounces of sour grapes, chip in a shoulder of nutmeg, add a pinch of salt and leave to dry out in hot air.
So you think I begrudge you the money you’re earning from the European Commission for your anti-EU stance. Wrong, Kevin. I think it’s hypocritical for you to bite the hand that feeds you. I think you lack common decency. You object to something, but take its money.
I think what you’re saying is a bunch of crap.
[Daphne – That sounds so grown up, Kevin.]
They’ve picked up your post about Julia Ramelow and Musa Ibrahim/Mansour:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/latest-updates-on-libyan-war-and-mideast-protests-4/?partner=rss&emc=rss
We shall stand firm:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110402/local/migration-malta-to-press-for-activation-of-emergency-mechanism
Joey will be getting his tourist boom after all, it seems.
We will also be offering Mater Dei to treat serious casualties.
What a joke. Our one and only general hospital is bursting at the seams.
I will not go into details because I have no intention of causing alarm. However this idea of treating considerable numbers of patients with grievous injuries at Mater Dei is sheer cuckoo.
To all our politicians when the going gets tough:
Speech is silver, silence is gold (or golden).
We are behaving like deranged idiots all because our population is temporarily up by 800 souls.
Kev, ,money buys power and power corrupts. Gaddafi’s wealth could have allowed him and his offspring a luxurious life whilst still winning a popularity contest. But no, he wanted the lot and the result is this.
You do not accept that the bureaucrats in Brussels CAN PLAN OUR FUTURES, that is what they really do.
For forward-planning of 10 to 15 years you do need a bureaucratic system. I have been raised by parents I didn’t elect for the job and until I was 18 my country was run by politicians who were not elected by me. No big deal.
Government lies come from both right and left of the spectrum. You yearn for perfection knowing that it is a dream. You belittle a system that is probably the best that exists at the moment. Incidentally, for there to exist the fear of war, war must exist to generate that fear – you cannot have one without the other. What do you really want, Kevin.