VALLETTA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Monday denied having had a knee-jerk reaction to recent events, saying that his position on migration is clear and consistent.
The tiny Mediterranean island was recently in the international spotlight after refusing an Italian request that it should take on a boatload of over 600 African migrants.
"The country maintains the same position as five years ago," Muscat said, as he addressed a Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC) core group meeting on Monday.
Muscat said that Malta has taken in its quota of migrants as established by the European Commission, however reiterating that he was not hopeful that the EU member states would reach an agreement on the issue.
"The argument that Malta is not carrying its weight is untrue... Malta is the country with the second largest number of asylum requests per capita," he said.
Muscat said that he would be open to proposals on how to resolve the issue, saying the current system "doesn't work".
Muscat said that the number of persons arriving from Libya to Europe had decreased by 78 percent. "This is a clear result of politics of engagement which happened on a local level."
"Economic migrants are increasing," he said, explaining that international law clearly differentiates between "genuine asylum seekers" escaping war, and those looking for a better life.
Giving preferential treatment to the latter group would be an injustice to those who need help the most, Muscat said.
