A week after the tragedy in Lampedusa, which killed close to 340 people, “hundreds more undocumented migrants were adrift on the Mediterranean,” writes Tageszeitung.
On October 11, at least 34 refugees, most of the Syrians, drowned 100km from the island of Malta. According to survivors, the group began their crossing in the Libyan port of Zuwara. Their boat, which was carrying 400 refugees, was pursued and fired on by another craft, which may have been a Libyan coastguard vessel, causing the death of two people.
In the wake of the Italian and Maltese governments’ demand for changes to Europe’s immigration policy, TAZ points out that Malta, “the smallest EU state, is the biggest loser in the EU asylum system” —
In 2012, some 1,890 refugees arrived on the island, contributing to an overall 17,000 since 2002. According to European legislation, they are only allowed to apply for asylum [in Malta]. The island state, which is home to 418,000, has proportionally seven times more asylum applications than the EU average.
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