Illegal Immigration: 'EU has abandoned us' says Malta PM - by Chris Mangion

Malta and Italy have been abandoned and are facing the migration tragedy alone; a tragedy that is constantly changing and gaining momentum, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Addressing the annual general meeting at the Ghaxaq PL Club, Dr Muscat observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the latest Lampedusa tragedy. 

The Prime Minister accused the European union of choosing money over life, saying that money is more important than people. “While all European countries including Malta reached out and helped in the Greek financial crisis, Malta and Italy’s are left alone to face this humanitarian crisis”, Muscat said, adding that peace in Europe can only happen through peace in the c which will stay out of reach without a clear and concrete strategy.

“At first it was Africans who took to rickety boats and look for a better future, but now people from Syria, are attempting the same trip to fleeing from war,” Muscat said. Unless action is taken our seas will witness further deaths.

Read more: 'EU has abandoned us' - PM - maltatoday.com.mt

US Presidential Elections: Not in Romney's speech: Iraq, Social Security

 Social Security. Medicare. Iraq. Afghanistan. Illegal immigration.

They’re all costly to taxpayers and the next president presumably will have to address them to one degree or another. Yet GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney made no mention of those issues Thursday in his wide-ranging acceptance speech that closed the Republican National Convention.

The address was Romney’s most sweeping attempt yet to outline the case for his candidacy. It was no time to get into the nitty-gritty of federal budgeting and solutions to the nation’s ills. But Romney did find ways to talk about an array of other issues, some of them sensitive for him personally and politically.

Romney did, for example, pledge to ‘‘protect the sanctity of life,’’ a reference to abortion, even though there are clear differences on the issue between him and running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. He referred to his family as Mormons, a rarity for a candidate who typically refers to his religion as ‘‘my faith.’’ And Romney even showed emotion, which he seldom does in public, when he spoke of longing to wake up again with a pile of children in the bedroom he shares with wife Ann.

Read more: Not in Romney's speech: Iraq, Social Security - News - Boston.com

EU: Italy now chief route for illegal migration to Europe

Unrest in North Africa this year has caused the main flow of flow of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the European Union to switch from Greece to Italy's islands, the EU's border protection agency Frontex said Tuesday.

Frontex said a total of about 33,000 migrants were detected trying to enter the 27-nation bloc in the first three months of the year, more than double the figure for the same period of 2010. Over two-thirds of this number - 22,600 people - were found at Italy's borders, mainly in the area around the tiny southern island of Lampedusa, said Frontex deputy director Gil Arias Fernandez.

Greece, whose frontier with Turkey was previously the main entry for people seeking to cross into the EU, saw 7,200 illegal entries in the same time period compared with 13,100 in January-March 2010 after border patrols were strengthened, according to Frontex. More than 41,000 migrants have reached Lampedusa since the start of the year, including over 1,600 last weekend.

For more: EU: Italy now chief route for illegal migration to Europe - Adnkronos Security

Turkey Pushes Again for Removal of EU Visa Requirements

Turkey is one of the EU's most important gatekeepers to illegal migration. But a row over visas is threatening the adoption of an agreement that Brussels sees as key to controlling the growing problem of illegal migration through Turkey.

According to the EU as many as 80,000 migrants are believed to have entered Greece from Turkey illegally. And that is why Brussels is pressing Ankara to agree to accept back people who've entered the EU illegally.

But Ankara says it will only agree to the so-called re-admission agreement if the EU eases visa requirements on its citizens.

For more: Turkey Pushes Again for Removal of EU Visa Requirements | Europe | English

EU gears up to deploy 175 officials to help Greece with immigrants

The European Union's border agency, Frontex, will deploy 175 officials to Greece by the end of November in a bid to stem the growing tide of illegal immigrants crossing the Turkish- Greek border, local media reported Saturday.
Frontex had agreed to send a rapid intervention team earlier this week, after Greece turned to the EU agency for help because of the increasing number of refugees - mainly from Africa and Afghanistan - who are attempting to cross the border to find their way into the EU.

Personnel and equipment from Germany, Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Denmark will be deployed along the border to Turkey, according to the Warsaw-based Frontex.

For more: EU gears up to deploy 175 officials to help Greece with immigrants - Monsters and Critics

Migrants Aided By Turkish Teens Reaching Greece Despite Efforts to Block Them

EU-digest

New York Times - “Stop the boat! Stop the boat now!” the captain of the Greek Coast Guard patrol vessel yelled over the bullhorn, turning a spotlight on the flimsy dinghy as it chugged toward this island in the Aegean Sea. As the dinghy sputtered to a halt, a crowd of frightened faces squinted up into the light. Squeezed onto the 6-meter, or 20-foot, vessel were 30 Afghan migrants — men, women, children including babies — and their smugglers: two Turkish boys. The interception occurred one Saturday night earlier this month. But the migrants, the smugglers and the coast guard officers are protagonists in a daily drama played out in this seven-kilometer-wide strait separating the island of Lesbos from the Turkish coast, one of the narrowest sea crossings between the two countries and a favored route for smuggling. Hampering European Union efforts to curb a relentless influx of desperate people seeking to enter the bloc through this slender channel are age-old tensions between the E.U. member Greece and the E.U.-hopeful Turkey and the ever inventive tactics of opportunists profiting from the situation.

Most of the human traffickers are Turks, age 16 and 17. “We’ve seen one kid three times,” a patrol boat captain said, noting that minors, who cannot be prosecuted under Greek law, were sent back to Turkey, but often tried to return to Greece a few weeks later. The captain asked not to be identified by name for security reasons.

maltastar.com: Illegal immigration: new political dispute between Italy and Malta

For the complete report from the maltastar.com click on this link

Illegal immigration: new political dispute between Italy and Malta

In what appears to be a new political dispute between Italy and Malta, Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini has appealed to the Maltese authorities to stop dragging its feet and shrink the Island’s Search and Rescue area by the end of the year.Minister Frattini’s call comes in the wake of 75 irregular immigrants feared dead in the Sicilian canal.The Italian Minister said that Malta’s SAR area, 250,000 square kilometres, was too large for a country, which was ill equipped to deal with the influx of irregular immigration. “Such tragedy does not have to repeat itself.” Asked if he was blaming Malta for the 75 dead, the Italian Minister said: “I do not have all the elements at hands to be sure. However, it is clear that they (Malta) do not have the equipment to control such an extensive area.”