Addressing the United Nations 71st General Assembly in New York, Joseph Muscat is reported as having said that Human Traffickers should be brought to justice in front of an International Tribunal as this would drive home the message that we are not only looking at this tragedy from the humanitarian aspect, but also from the security perspective.
It takes hard core cheek and political dishonesty to preach humanitarian aspects and security at a time when Joseph Muscat’s own Government is riddled with scandals on the issue of a large number of visas to Algerians and Libyans without, in most cases, a valid reason except for abusing a humanitarian medical system for Libyans by allegedly the taking of millions in bribes, with the apparent involvement of a person appointed on the basis of his personal trust.
This security perspective gains even more significance with the selling of Schengen passports to unidentified persons from the Middle East, Russia and China with due diligence procedures which may be suspect and which are exposing security not only in Malta, but also in Europe and countries where Maltese Visas are accepted.
As regards the humanitarian aspect of immigrants, which is a pet subject for Joseph Muscat, one must recall his not so distant decision to push back immigrants crossing the Mediterranean, which decision he had to withdraw only after being warned and censured by the European Council.
During the speech, Joseph Muscat felt it appropriate to state that “Malta is deeply committed to Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and cooperation, inspired by former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, that there can be no peace and security in Europe without peace and security in the Mediterranean.
Without demeaning Mintoff’s initiative mainly in favour of Palestine, I must recall that it was Mintoff himself who, in the same breath, was flirting closely with the rebel dictator Muammar Gaddafi who was a big threat to world peace and security, and who had exposed us Maltese to great embarrassment when going overseas with a twin copy of Libya’s green passport.
I wonder what significance the mention of Dom Mintoff could have on a gathering of many relatively young participants at the General Assembly. Some might perhaps venture into history to find out who this fiery politician was, but I am sure that, in doing so, Malta’s past credentials of democracy will cause us more embarrassment on the World political stage.
