Oh my gosh, faced with the possibility of tens of thousands of fleeing North Africans coming ashore on the Mediterranean Island country of Malta—a big problem before the “democracy” revolutions began—an editorial in the Times of Malta goes on for paragraphs about the humanitarian problems (costs etc.) before it gets to several squishy paragraphs that tip-toe around the real problem. How do you sort out “deserving” refugees from criminals and terrorists? You ask them!
“….the nature of certain claims could be very delicate!”
Many of those fleeing Libya are likely to be asylum seekers. But there may also be many other nationalities who are in Libya but do not want to return to their own country fearing persecution. The UNHCR says it registered over 8,000 refugees in Libya, mainly from Palestine, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia and Chad. However, the number might be much higher.
In such circumstances, the Office of the Refugee Commissioner in Malta needs to be sufficiently resourced [gobs of money on hand–ed] and prepared. Not only because it might once again be faced with a huge wave of asylum seekers but also because the nature of certain claims could be very delicate and would require top interviewing, credibility analysis and refugee status determination skills.
“Top interviewing!” What on earth are you going to ask a bunch of guys in boats from Libya or Tunisia with no papers, escaping countries with no government to speak of, ‘hey, Muslim 20-year-old, any criminal record?’ How many do you think will answer in the affirmative?
Here is a good one, someone is going to have to determine if the would-be asylee or refugee has been “found guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” Or, how about “crimes against peace?” Do we really think they will have their criminal or terrorism dossiers on the boat. Read it, I am not making this up.
Malta’s refugee status determination legislation, which reflects international and EU requirements and practice, lays down that an applicant is excluded from being a refugee where there are serious reasons for considering s/ he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes. Moreover, exclusion could also be considered because of the commission of a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to one’s admission as a refugee or because of being found guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
So, to Maltese citizens and tourists, are your minds now at rest? The would-be refugees will be asked if they are peaceful and have only peaceful intentions, and I guess you will have to take their word for it.
It needs to be ensured that international protection is there only for those who really deserve it. This is necessary to put people’s mind at rest, whether locals or tourists.
I’ll bet the US State Department and Ambassador Kmiec (Republican for Obama) are salivating at the prospect of scooping up more illegal aliens from Malta and resettling them in your neighborhood as they have been doing for years now!