Tiny Malta Struggles to Absorb Boatloads of Desperate Africans

An Island Engulfed by Migrants
Tiny Malta Struggles to Absorb Boatloads of Desperate Africans

By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, June 4, 2006; Page A14

VALLETTA, Malta -- Elegant white cruise ships slide into a perfect Mediterranean harbor, dropping hundreds of sun-blushed tourists to wander this former British colony's narrow alleyways dotted with pubs and classic red English telephone booths. But just beyond these postcard-perfect scenes, an unwanted flotilla of rickety fishing boats carrying desperate Africans is arriving, too.
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Malta suddenly finds itself on the leading edge of an increasingly emotional debate over how much immigration Europe can tolerate. About twice the size of the District of Columbia, it sits like a tiny sentry off southern Europe, 60 miles south of Sicily, looking across the sea at 2,000 miles of North African coast. In the past four years, more than 5,000 African immigrants have come ashore here, most often making the 200-mile crossing from Libya in open fishing boats.

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Countries that until recently had barely any foreigners, such as Ireland, are now taking in large numbers of newcomers of different races and religions. Last month, 40 Afghans staged a hunger strike inside a Dublin cathedral to press their demand for political asylum.

More than 9,000 Africans, meanwhile, have reached Spain's Canary Islands by boat this year, turning that tourist destination into another immigration crisis point. The European Union's border patrol agency said last week that it was planning to send air and sea patrols to the Canary Islands, Malta and other hot spots.