Brussels, 13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 13 May, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström welcomed the outcome of the ministerial conference in Brussels on 12 May to discuss and review commitments and pledges from the member states for the relocation of refugees from Libya arriving on the EU's shores in Malta and elsewhere. The conference was held to encourage the member states to demonstrate greater solidarity by allowing refugees in camps on the Libyan borders to come to their countries and/or by accepting some of the refugees from Malta, extending a pilot project in Malta for the relocation of refugees to other member states.
In Brussels on Thursday, the member states agreed to accept more than 300 of the refugees in Malta (Germany, Belgium and Sweden had already expressed willingness in recent weeks to accept the refugees in Malta), along with 700 of the refugees stranded in North Africa as part of their immigration resettlement programmes. No details of the countries or commitments were available on Friday.
Cecilia Malmström explained in a press release: “The situation is very serious both in North Africa and in Malta. The deteriorating humanitarian situation of refugees who have been stranded in Libya, some of whom have fled over the border to Tunisia and Egypt, is an issue of major concern. These are people who cannot safely be returned to their home countries, and for whom resettlement would provide the only durable solution. The Maltese asylum and reception systems are under great pressure due to the arrival of a high number of persons who might be in need of international protection. We therefore need concrete engagements and expressions of solidarity towards the EU member states and third countries who are receiving large numbers of people fleeing the war in Libya, as well as towards the refugees themselves…. I strongly encourage new pledges for both relocation from Malta and resettlement of refugees from North Africa. I am confident that other member states and associated countries will make further commitments to express their solidarity in these times of particular pressure due to the crisis in North Africa. At the same time, I am seeking to find a compromise to facilitate rapid progress with the negotiations on the Commission proposal for the establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme. I am convinced that the commitments made yesterday are only the beginning of a joint resettlement effort at the European level.” The Commission explains that in 2010, 5,000 people were allowed into the EU as part of “resettlement programmes”, compared with 75,000 in the United States. (S.P./transl.fl)