Dwar il-kwistjoni tal-immigrazzjoni, għad hemm firda kbira bejn il-pajjiżi membri tal-Unjoni Ewropea. Jidher li l-interessi nazzjonali qed jinħassu ħafna aktar qawwija minn dak li jista’ jkun interess Ewropew wieħed u magħqud.
Fl-istess ħin, kważi l-pajjiżi membri kollha jsostnu li l-kriżi tar-rifuġjati tista’ tinħall biss jekk tiġi trattata bħala problema Ewropea. “Kważi kollha” għax fost il-membri hemm min jgħid li l-problema hi waħda tal-Ġermanja. Kemm għax il-maġġoranza tar-refuġjati jridu jmorru hemm, kemm għax il-Kanċellier Merkel, skont huma, għoġobha bla twissija minn qabel tiftaħ beraħ il-bibien ta’ pajjiżha. B’hekk aggravat il-problema għax l-immigranti komplew jiżdiedu fin-numru.
L-Ewropej huma mifruda mhux biss bejn il-pajjiżi imma anki ġo fihom. Hi magħrufa sew il-firda li qamet fil-Ġermanja nnifisha, bejn is-CDU u s-CSU, partiti li tradizzjonalment dejjem kienu alleati ta’ xulxin. Il-firdiet interni qed ukoll jinqalgħu f’pajjiżi bħall-Awstrija, id-Danimarka, l-Italja u r-Renju Unit fost l-oħrajn.
Dan kollu xejn mhu ta’ awgurju sabiħ.
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Qbil mal-Afrikani?
Proposta Ewropea ħalli tittaffa l-kriżi tal-immigrazzjoni hi li jikkonvinċu lill-pajjiżi Afrikani juru aktar żelu biex ma jħallux l-immigranti rregolari ta’ pajjiżhom jaħarbu jfittxu impjieg fl-Ewropa, u jkunu lesti jeħduhom lura meta jiġu ripatrijati għax ma jitqisux bħala rifuġjati.
Nittama li din l-proposta tirnexxi. Biss niddubita kemm jista’ jiġri hekk.
Fil-pajjiżi Afrikani ta’ “taħt” is-Saħara teżisti kriżi ta’ impjiegi. Effettivament il-Punent, inkluża l-Ewropa, għandu responsabbiltà ewlenija għaliha. Insista li l-pajjiżi Afrikani jidħlu bla protezzjoni fis-sistema globalizzata neo-liberali. Ried li s-settur privat jinżamm bħala l-mutur kważi ewlieni ta’ kull żvilupp u li l-impriżi tal-gvern jinbiegħu. Ma ra l-ebda problema mbagħad f’li l-impriżi multinazzjonali l-kbar baqgħu jqisu l-Afrika bħala art minn fejn jiksbu l-materja prima minerali u prodotti tal-biedja bħall-kafe, ħalli wara, jaħdmuhom fil-Punent.
Il-bliet kibru, bla ma nħolqu impjiegi ġodda fihom. In-neoliberaliżmu “impost” fuq l-Afrika la ġab prosperità vera u lanqas naqqas il-korruzzjoni.
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Fondi fuq proġetti
Il-gvern għamel sew li malli ra li l-Unjoni Ewropea se timblokka parti mill-fondi Ewropej li kien se juża għat-toroq, ra wkoll kif se jonfoqhom mod ieħor qabel jintilfu għalkollox.
Min jippretendi li l-affarijiet messhom saru mod ieħor, qiegħed iqarraq. Hemm komplikazzjonijiet burokratiċi mhux żgħar fit-tħaddim tal-fondi strutturali li minn Brussell jiġu allokati għal proġetti mal-Unjoni Ewropea. L-istati membri kollha jispiċċaw ma jinqdewx bil-fondi totali li jiġu assenjati lilhom.
Kemm pajjiżna ilu membru tal-Unjoni Ewropea, din hi l-aktar darba li gvern Malti rnexxielu jegħleb il-problema kważi għalkollox.
English Version – Europeans in agreement?
On immigration issues EU member states remain profoundly at odds with each other. It looks as if the pull of national interests has become more powerful that what could emerge as a united European interest.
Meanwhile, almost all member countries make the point that the refugee crisis can only be managed if it is treated as a European problem. “Almost all” because there are some members who claim that the real problem is Germany’s. Not only do the majority of refugees want to go to that country, but they say, there is also the fact that Chancellor Merkel decided without giving prior warning to open wide her country’s frontiers. Her decision aggravated the problem since it led to a further increase in immigration numbers.
Europeans are divided not only on a country by country basis, but also within their own national borders. Best known is the dispute that has arisen within Germany itself, between the CDU and CSU parties which traditionally, have always been allies. However, internal dissent is also rife among others in countries like Austria, Denmark, Italy and the UK.
All this hardly augurs well for the future.
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Agreement with the Africans?
A European proposal for containing the immigration crisis is to convince African countries to show more commitment when preventing irregular migrants from leaving to seek work in Europe, and to be ready to take them back when they are repatriated on not being given refugee status.
I hope this proposal meets with success. However I doubt it.
In countries of sub-Saharan Africa there is a jobs crisis. Effectively the West, Europe included, must carry primary responsibility for it. There was an insistence that African countries should be freely inserted in the globalised neo-liberal economic system. The private sector had to be accepted as practically the sole engine of all development, so that government enterprises needed to be sold off. Furthermore, it was considered as a matter of little consequence, that big multinational companies still considered Africa as a territory from where they could access mineral raw materials and cash crops like coffee, which they would then process in the West.
The growth and expansion of townships failed to create new jobs. The neo-liberalism “imposed” on Africa has not generated true prosperity. Nor has it decreased corruption.
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Project funds
When it realised that the EU would be blocking part of the European funds it intended to invest in roads, the government did well to try and switch those funds to other projects before the closing date for their utilisation.
Whoever pretends matters should have been done differently is operating in deceit mode. When mobilising the structural funds that are allocated from Brussels towards projects across the EU, huge bureaucratic complications must be gone through. All member states end up losing out on some at least of the funds that are assigned to them overall.
Since this country became a member of the EU, this is the first time that a government has to a large extent, managed to overcome this difficulty
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