LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela stated that the immigration problem is better handled through sustainable economies. Abela was addressing the international conference on the immigration situation in the Mediterranean Sea. He insisted on the importance that Africa should be treated as an equal partner to Europe so to have economic cooperation.
Abela was one of a number of world leaders from European Union countries, Africa, other Mediterranean countries, and Arab Gulf countries who met in Palazzo della Farnesina in Rome, together with representatives from international organizations and leaders of European institutions.
Abela praised the work done between the countries of origin of immigrants who escape their country to reach Europe, the transit countries, and ultimately the destination countries for these immigrants.
He praised the initiative of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to organize and host the conference and put on the agenda economic cooperation with countries further afield of Europe, including in Africa, on the agenda. Abela said that this is in conformity with the position that Malta has consistently pushed when it comes to the topic of immigration.
Abela remarked that there has to be a clear and collective message against human trafficking, particularly in the face of the ugly realities in the Mediterranean where vulnerable people have lost their lives. “This is a moral obligation for all of us,” Abela said while adding that the repatriation of people who do not qualify for asylum must be done in a safe and efficient manner.
Abela referred to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and said that the Covid-19 pandemic should not stop the implementation of these aims or work on larger challenges such as climate change.
At the end of the conference, leaders agreed on a number of conclusions including those about the founding of the ‘Rome Process’ – an important framework for the implementation of collective work in favour of stability and economic development, while addressing the immigration question from its roots while also keeping in mind the implementation of the obligations declared in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
foto: Doi
(ITALPRESS).
