Handy for the tourists coming across from North Africa. What always struck me about Malta was the plethora of sandy beaches.
It isn't top of my to do list. I used to land on Malta on the way back from North Africa. It is on a par with Gibraltar though not quite so many apes. Many that I knew frequented Malta at that time and gave between them, what no doubt was an accurate account of the country. Very popular with young Libyans, out to get drunk and get their hands on some available western women. Geographically, Malta is the nearest part of the EU to Tripoli, Libya. Nice and handy. There are some terrific monuments there so well worth a visit. For those Europhiles that are thinking of settling in Malta, why not have a gander at this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya–Malta_relations As you can see the two enjoy cordial relations and more... Malta has enjoyed being a prime escape route for immigrants / refugees making their exodus from North Africa with Malta being a part of the EU in such close proximity.
when I went there Mintoff was running the show and we went as a couple with two other couples,anyway we had been out for the day about 5 days in of drinking red or blue Hopleaf well on the way back we saw a bar with the old Watney's Red Barrel sign over it,in we piled in" 3 pints Watney,s red barrel please" "we don't sell it" "what about the sign above the door" "oh that ,its a souvenier from a trip to London I had"
But from Gibraltar you can (probably be a long wait after Brexit) nip over the border and play golf in Spain.
I suggest you brush-up on your geography. The distance between Malta and Tripoli is 355 km; the distance between Italy and Tripoli is 296.6 km. Tunisia is even closer to the EU: just 76 km separates them at their closest point which, again, is with Italy. Your thinly-disguised racism is not welcome. Completely untrue, you're making stuff up.
That's crap. Go back and do your homework. But don't return till you have done it properly. Print off a copy of that region. Get your ruler out or bits of string or use Google Earth. And double check the distances. I am not going to do it for you as you will not learn that way.
No racism intended. You are making stuff up. But just read it. Obviously Malta enjoys visitors from North Africa ( hardly surprising seeing the close proximity of the two nations ). For an individual who insists on Brexit to keep foreigners out, you sure have a problem there in Malta! Nice place though and I know some nice North Africans. Yes, I know about the tiny Italian islands south of Malta, but do concede that there is a special relationship between Libya and Malta. I hope you are enjoying all those nice sandy beaches.
Of course Malta has a relationship with Libya, it's a near neighbour. Malta also has relationships with China, Russia and the United States. Britain and the European Union too. Oh and Turkey. So what? Is that a bad thing? Malta gets very few visitors from North Africa these days, the lack of an air service being but one reason (Emirates ceased its DXB-TUN-MLA route some weeks ago). Almost all visitors here arrive on passenger jets from Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and Russia (inter alia), stay one or more weeks, spend a lot of money and then return from whence they came. A few rich North Africans come here to pay for the privilege of giving birth in a first world hospital for which they are handsomely charged. As for the mass exodus of economic migrants arriving in Libya and ready to pay upwards of €500 a head for a spot on an overcrowded and unsafe rubber dingy, they are picked-up by a fleet of maritime "buses" and shuttled to Lampedusa or Pantelleria where they are processed and then sent to mainland Italy. Curiously there seems to be some co-operation between the charitable operators of the rescue craft and the Libyan people smugglers who wait for the fleet to assemble before dispatching the next few thousand; there have been suggestions that some of the rescuers are being paid by the smugglers. Very wisely the Maltese government has made it very clear that Malta will not accept any shiploads of migrants. The EU, in the form of Fuhrer Merkel and the Commission, were very quick to invite these people but they have not given Italy the funding necessary to carry-out this work. Furthermore other European countries have either threatened or have actually closed their borders with Italy to prevent the migrants moving northwards.
Get this: "Malta, officially the Republic of Malta or better in Maltese language Repubblika tà Malta, is a southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km south of Sicily, 284 km east of Tunisia and 333 km or a little more north of Libya. With an area of 316 km² it is the most densely populated country in the EU." And this: "Since joining the EU in 2004, it has also been positioning itself as a financial centre with liberal tax and regulatory policies. Besides the British and German tourists, well-heeled Arab and Russian businessmen can be seen in the baroque capital of Valetta and in the hotels of the nearby coastal towns. But the Arabic-speakers in Malta are not wealthy Gulf tourists that one would see in upscale Mediterranean destinations like France’s Cote d’Azur. They are mostly from Libya, the strife-torn state 180 miles south of Malta." And this. Picture a small island on the fringe of the EU on the "borders" of North Africa and in particular Libya where Isis has a good toehold. The country is the most densely populated in the EU and is leaking all manner of Tom Dick and Abdullahs into its midst and the EU : "But the Libyan visitors are not all good news for the Maltese or the wider EU economy. Earlier this year, Joseph Sammut, a prominent local accountant and auditor catering to the Libyan business community, was charged with running a scam whereby he registered companies for Libyan nationals with fake stock declarations, on the strength of which residency permits were issued. Hundreds of visas for Libyans are believed to have been processed through this scheme. Several government employees are facing charges related to facilitating the production of such permits. There's more : "The number of new residence permits issued to non-EU nationals in 2014 reached 13,798, more than double the corresponding figure in 2012. The biggest proportion – nearly 3,500 – were issued to Libyans, an increase of 444% over 2012, with Russian citizens in second place with 1,493 permits. Maltese residency permits give recipients access to travel across the EU zone." From another source: "As a result of its geographic position located in the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta is an ideal stepping stone or pit-stop between the southern border of the Mediterranean and Europe. Just for this reason it is regularly challenged with huge influxes of irregular immigrants and asylum seekers seeking to escape from the poor conditions and especially from African continent’s persecution and injustice. Irregular migration has always existed but what is really new is the increasing extent in which it has been manifesting itself in the past years, especially during and after the different uprisings took place in North Africa between 2011 and 2012, better known as “Arab Spring”. Malta has had to save, protect, host and provide asylum to an increasing number of immigrants in the past few years. However, Malta’s size, its limited resources and its overpopulation make the incoming influx of migrants seem a burden too large to handle. " And an interesting summary here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pic...s/10192465/In-pictures-Migrants-in-Malta.html "The Maltese have long prided themselves on their ability to repel unwanted invaders. Their latest efforts to turn back foreigners, however, are unlikely to win any plaudits. The European Union last week was embroiled in a bitter row with Mr Muscat's government over its plans to return immigrants to their country of provenience. Would-be immigrants sit on the ground after arriving at the Armed Forces of Malta Maritime Squadron base on July 10th." You say the UK has an immigration problem and should get out of the EU. And you choose to live in Malta? Are you for real?
Trust you, JohnAsh, to provide quotes - but no links to their sources - to apparently dated and self-contradictory pieces of racist filth. Shame on you.
Its common knowledge that Libyan money has been laundered in Malta for many years, nothing new. Malta is a tiny state on the edge of Europe. They've had a massive refugee problem in recent years, and Europe is doing little to help, again common knowledge. You can't blame Muscat for wanting action to be taken.
The EU is doing NOTHING to help either Malta or Italy: Juncker, Tusk and Co are selectively deaf to cries for financial aid and assistance but quick to relay ECJ rulings regarding failed asylum seekers (who now can not be returned from whence they came). Malta's connection with the rotating presidency finally ends at the New Year whereupon Muscat will feel freer to be more strident in his demands. Malta fully supports the Italian threat to issue Schengen Visas and identity documents to up to 500,000 migrants this year who want to relocate to northern Europe - ideally the UK or Sweden - and there'd be nothing that the French, Austrian or German Border guards could do to stop them crossing into their countries. I would not put the words "massive refugee problem" and "Malta" in the same sentence. It does have a problem and relative to its size and population, that problem is about the most serious in Europe. But it is miniscule in comparison to that facing the Italian authorities at Lapedusa, the island to the south west of Malta where all the international rescue craft are based. Apparently more migrants sneak into Britain a month than got to Malta over the last 12 months. Those that do get here can count on a less than pleasant experience being locked-up in a detention centre before being shipped-off to Italy. Rather than concern himself with the very, very few migrants that do come ashore on the main island, Mr Ash should turn his attention closer to home and worry about all the rubber boats crossing the Channel and light aircraft landing in the many deserted airfields of East Anglia. He should also worry that if Corbyn becomes Prime Minister, there'd be no border controls whatsoever.
Malta is a small island with a large population for its size. The highest density of people in the entire EU. For that reason, the numbers that do end up in Malta (and they do) are unsustainable.
