Minister for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality Byron Camilleri held a bilateral meeting with the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis. During the meeting, both ministers reaffirmed the good relations between Malta and Greece, took stock of the current migration situation in both countries and emphasised the need for continued cooperation at EU level to ensure that frontline Member States receive the necessary support. Both ministers agreed to continue working together on a bilateral level, and together with other Mediterranean countries within the Med5 group.
Minister Camilleri participated as a panellist at the 2023 edition of the Thessaloniki Summit, on the session dedicated to migration and immigration challenges in the region, together with Dimitris Kairidis, Minister of Migration and Asylum, of the Hellenic Republic, and Beate Gminder, Deputy Director-General and Head of Task Force Migration Management of the European Commission.
The minister highlighted the current challenges in the Mediterranean characterised by a sharp increase in the number of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean route and a recent surge of arrivals through the Eastern and Western Mediterranean routes. The minister also noted concerns with the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, as the conflict in Gaza continues to escalate.
Minister Camilleri outlined the improvements made by Malta in the past years, by making the asylum procedure more efficient, enhancing our reception centres, reducing the number of arrivals, and investing heavily in our return system, including by setting up a Returns Unit within the ministry and increasing cooperation with key third countries of origin and transit.
The minister emphasised the importance of having an effective return system, which he described as being the cornerstone of a credible asylum and migration system. Minister Camilleri highlighted how Malta experienced an increase in returns of migrants not eligible for international protection, which was accompanied by a sharp decrease in irregular arrivals, thus highlighting the existence of a clear correlation between effective returns and irregular arrivals.
Minister Camilleri once again highlighted the need to adopt a just migration policy, generous with those needing international protection and tough with those who abuse the system and do not have a right to remain on EU territory.
Photos: MHSR
