Malta, along with Spain, Greece, Italy and Cyprus, stated on Saturday that the European Union’s border agency Frontex needs to work within third countries to stop the smuggling and endangerment of lives of migrants.
Top officials from the aforementioned countries, who are the countries who receive the most migrant arrivals from the Southern and southeastern borders, stated that they will be pushing this proposal to EU leaders later this month.
The countries also call to set up asylum application centres in neighbours countries from which successful applicants can safely reach Europe instead of through risky boat trips.
This would help diminish the work of smugglers and would allow people with legitimate fears to find safety whilst travelling to Europe after their asylum claims are accepted.
Home Affairs Minister of Malta Byron Camilleri said that a lot of time has been lost making statements and pointing fingers. ‘Meanwhile, children and adults continue to lose their lives while we ignore the elephant in the room. How long is it going to take us Europeans to admit that the only way to save lives is to eradicate people smuggling once and for all?’
The claims were backed up by relevant and synonymous authorities from the there countries, who asked the EU to seriously consider these proposals and put an end to the smuggling of lives. They also ask the EU to adopt fairer migrant relocation policies so that the burden does not entirely fall on southern EU countries.
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