Irregular migration in the Euro-Mediterranean area : an analysis of burden sharing practices and Malta

Abstract

The modern phenomenon of irregular mass migration, which is being perceived as a security threat in the Post Cold-War era, is mainly the result of the great economic, social and political disparities between source states and countries on the receiving end. These disparities between European states and countries from which irregular immigrants are fleeing are leading to the illegal entry of thousands of illegal immigrants in European territory every year, which is impacting greatly on European states and people. Besides negative effects like the rise of the level of racism and xenophobia in Europe, which is the result of irregular immigration, this modem phenomenon is in itself a burden on Southern European states, since these are situated on the frontline when it comes to dealing with the flow of irregular immigrants coming from the African continent. Employing the principle of burden-sharing, based on that of solidarity, the European Union is trying to formulate effective devices to assist its southern members in shouldering the burden of irregular immigration. The Union's policies and regulations with the objective of sharing the burden of irregular immigration among its Member States already left the drawing board and are in motion, with FRONTEX being a very clear illustration of a Union initiative aimed at alleviating the burden of mass migration from those Member States receiving the greatest amounts of irregular immigrants every year. Among these countries there is Malta, a microstate at the southernmost tip of the European Union.