Text Project

Lejla Kurtic, Dunja Devic, Monika Maric

First Version:

Joining the EU has brought serious immigration problems to Malta

I. Malta

A. General information

Malta is one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries, with a total population (includes including foreign residents) of 389,769. Malta has always been seen as the home of settlers and conquers such as the Sicilians, Arabs, Spanish and many more. Being a southern country, it is located…. As one of the most southern European countries, it is located close to Tunisia and Libya. After the EU accession in 2004, Malta has become the closest gate to the European Union for immigrants from these northern African countries. This has caused a continuous rise of immigration numbers. In 2009, 4.4% of Malta’s total population were occupied by foreign nationals, which was below the EU average of 6.4%. Of these, 2% were EU citizens (mostly British, but also Italians and others), while 2.4% were from non-EU countries. Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe. Between 2008 and 2012, Malta received, on average, the highest number of asylum seekers. This inward movement of foreigners into the Maltese Islands is regulated by (the Chapter 217 of the Laws of Malta:) the Immigration Act.

We would write a topic sentence and a concluding sentence. Sum it up and give the readers (in the topic sentence) an idea what your paper is about.

B. The way to EU membership

There were various opinions on Malta’s EU membership. Many people were looking forward to being a part of the community and underlining Malta’s European identity. Having advantages such as free travelling, choice of residence within EU countries and a hope for more tourists coming to Malta were some reasons to support the Nationalist party. The Labour party on the other hand had other plans for Malta, aiming to lead it to a “Switzerland of the Mediterranean” with closer ties to the EU but no membership. Amongst other arguments they argued that there was a threat of Sicilians taking Maltese jobs. Instead, it is African immigrants flocking to Malta in search for better lives. In the end, 53.6% of the voters had voted yes, forming a narrow majority in favour of accession. It was by far the lowest approval rate in the EU’s enlargement.

II. Immigration

A. Before joining the EU

Before Malta joined the EU in 2004, immigration levels were negligible. With its long history of repelling unwanted invaders like Ottoman Turks in the 1500s and helping Britain to keep Hitler at bay in the Second World War, it finally became independent in 1964. The Maltese needed to form a new identity after centuries of foreign leadership. This achievement is threatened now by thousands of immigrants coming to Malta, bringing unfamiliar habits and culture to the small island.

B. Changes that came with EU-membership

Now Malta receives the most asylum applications in the whole world, in relation to its small size. Alone in 2013 1,079 refugees found shelter in Malta and over the last decade the number adds up to 17,743. The high number of immigrants causes several problems for the small country and it has difficulties to cope with the situation. Its closeness to Africa has made Malta into a gateway for immigrants seeking entry to Europe. These refugees are generally poor and undocumented when they arrive in Malta and have to stay in crowded detention centres for up to 18 months. The conditions in those detentions centers are considered to be in a poor state and inhuman. The government states that resources to deal with boatloads of migrants who arrive at Maltas shores, are not given. Furthermore there is a growing fear of “cultural invasion” and racist assaults have begun to occur. Malta is the smallest country in the EU but has to carry a burden that is much bigger than in any other country and therefore desperately needs help from the EU.

III.Conclusion

Looking towards the future



Feedback:

1. Too many numbers in the first paragraph
2. Cohesion is sometimes missing
3. Rewrite Topic sentence
4. Concluding sentence missing in the second paragraph
5. Habits --> Customs (informal-formal)
6. "Most asylum seeker" --> "The largest number of..."
7. "Looking towards future would be a new aspect, not a conclusion."


Final version:

Joining the EU has brought serious immigration problems to Malta

In 2004 Malta became a member of the EU and with the membership a new problem occurred - exceptionally high immigration numbers. Malta is one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries, with a total population (including foreign residents) of 389,769 people. It has always been seen as home of settlers and conquerors such as the Sicilians, Arabs, Spanish and many more. As one of the most southern European countries, it is located close to Tunisia and Libya. After EU accession in 2004, Malta has become the closest gate to the European Union and a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe. This has caused a continuous rise of immigration. Between 2008 and 2012, Malta received, on average, the highest number of asylum seekers in the EU, who are causing serious problems in the Maltese society.

 

When Malta entered the EU admission process there were various opinions on its membership. Many people were looking forward to being a part of the community and underlining Malta’s European identity. Advantages such as free travelling, choice of residence within EU countries and a hope for more tourists coming to Malta were some reasons to support the Nationalist party, who were in favour of the EU membership. The Labour party on the other hand had other plans for Malta, aiming to lead it to a “Switzerland of the Mediterranean” with close ties to the EU but no membership. Amongst other arguments they stated that there was a threat of Sicilians taking Maltese jobs. Instead, now it is African immigrants flocking to Malta in search for better lives. In the end, 53.6% of the voters voted “yes”, forming a narrow majority in favour of accession. It was by far the lowest approval rate in the EU’s enlargement and there are still many voices that consider the EU membership as a poor decision.    

Before Malta joined the EU in 2004, immigration levels were negligible. With its long history of repelling unwanted invaders like Ottoman Turks in the 1500s and helping Britain to keep Hitler at bay in the Second World War, it finally became independent in 1964. The Maltese needed to form a new identity after centuries of foreign leadership. This achievement is threatened now by thousands of immigrants coming to Malta, bringing unfamiliar habits and culture to the small island. Although most immigrants want to proceed and go to mainland Europe, they have to return within three months to the country they first came to. As a result of this regulation hundreds are caught each year and forcibly sent back from other Schengen countries. Still the desired destination for most immigrants is another European country and therefore they have no intentions of integrating into Maltese society.

Malta receives the most asylum applications in the whole world, in relation to its small size. Alone in 2013 1,079 refugees found shelter in Malta and over the last decade the number adds up to 17,743. The high number of immigrants causes several problems for the small country and it has difficulties to cope with the situation. Its closeness to Africa has turned Malta into a gateway for immigrants seeking entry to Europe. These refugees are generally poor and undocumented when they arrive in Malta and have to stay in crowded detention centers for up to 18 months. The conditions in those detention centers are considered to be in a poor state and inhuman, but the government states that resources to deal with boatloads of migrants who arrive at Malta's shores, are not given. Furthermore there is a growing fear of “cultural invasion” and racist assaults have begun to occur. Malta is the smallest country in the EU but has to carry a burden that is much bigger than in any other country and therefore desperately needs help from the EU. Unfortunately, so far there have not been any measures taken to enhance the immigration situation in Malta.

The future of Malta remains uncertain. Action has to be taken from different directions. On the one hand the EU needs to support frontier countries like Malta in implementing policies concerning asylum seekers and mandatory burden sharing throughout the EU. Cecilia Malmstrom, the European home affairs commissioner, offered extra emergency funds and assured to get other EU states to take some of Malta’s immigrants. On the other hand the people in Malta - its residents as well as migrants - need to accustom themselves to each other. The Maltese need to adjust to a more multicultural society without segregation of ethnic minorities and rising of racist sentiments. At the same time the migrants who want to stay in Malta need to integrate with the help of a proper system which will assist them when they arrive and process applications faster. This could be a way to solve the immigration problems in Malta. 

Academic Paper

Environmental protection within the EU

Writing the paper

My academic paper will be about the environmental protection within the EU and its organizations. While working on my paper I realized that the sources are going to be one of my major problems. I had a few difficulties with finding some useful sources other than the official website from the European Union, which appeared to be kind of biased to my opinion. For that reason I have started doing some research outside the internet and I found some really interesting books which I borrowed from the university library. If you are also struggling with the same problem I would definitely recommend searching there for some books, articles or magazines. To extend my sources even more I have searched on Google Scholar for some academic texts relating to my topic. I found some books that I can read online without having to buy them. If you lack academic sources, this will definitely help you out.

Comment on a summary

SUMMARY – Europe already has one foot in ‘Japanese’ deflation policy      

(The Telegraph)

            What happened in Japan some years ago is now happening in Europe. Deflation has arrived and with it all of its inconveniences. A serious wariness about how to sustain the Eurozone and its debt rates is now exploding and a tense atmosphere can ne breathed Europe. Although the whole EU is immersed in this critical economic situation, different countries are approaching this situation in various ways. For example, the known as PIIGS are implementing austerity policies without offsetting any monetary stimulus. This directly affects the population by growing of the unemployment rates and basic care needs. Why is this happening to the PIIGS? Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP. On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy. Another possible solution could be inflation, but for the moment the option governments, politicians, economists … are taking is to hope for global growth to save us.

What happened in Japan some years ago is now happening in Europe. Deflation has arrived and with it all of with all of its inconveniences. A serious wariness about how to sustain the Eurozone and its debt rates is now exploding and a tense atmosphere can ne breathed Europe. Although the whole EU is immersed in this critical economic situation, different countries are approaching this situation in various ways. For example, the known as PIIGS are implementing austerity policies without offsetting any monetary stimulus. This directly affects the population by growing of the unemployment rates and basic care needs. Why is this happening to the PIIGS? Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP. On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (??) one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy. Another possible solution could be inflation, but for the moment the option governments, politicians, economists … are taking is to hope for global growth to save us.

• The student could have written a short introduction mentioning the author of the text, the newspaper and the date. This gives us an overview of what the article is about.
• The summary could have been divided into separate paragraphs. That would make it easier to read. 
• The student could have explained what the PIIGS are (because someone is reading this for the first time and probably does not know about "the PIIGS")
  
  
  
• I am not sure what the author wanted to say with "can ne breathed Europe". I suggest rewriting it.
• "the known as PIIGS" -->something is missing. I would suggest writing: "The countries know as PIIGS" or similar.
• "Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP.". I would suggest rewriting the whole sentence as it is not quite clear. Maybe write: "Because of the “denominator effect” dept is growing faster than nominal GDP."
• "On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (??) one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy." 
• I would suggest rewriting the sentence as it is clearly too long and a little bit confusing. I do not understand what is meant with “because of one the possible solutions…”.
• “to get together” is not high register. Consider writing something like “pair up”, “the unification of” or “unite”.
• Maybe divide this long sentence into two sentences.
• On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (somthing??). One possible solution is that “Club Med” pair up with Germany to implement the relation policy.   

• Be careful with "..." in a high register text.
  

Other than that the text gives me a general overview of what the original article is about.  The anonymous author mentioned important arguments and stayed focused on the topic. The student seems to have understood the main points of the text and remained impersonal.

The Concil of Europe

The Concil of Europe

The Council of Europe is the most important organisation besides the European Union in Europe. It was founded in 1949 by ten European states in order to promote democratic stability, human rights, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms all over Europe. The Council further strives to raise awareness of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity. Currently there are 47 members, including all EU member states as well as several other European countries. The general requirements for a country to join this international organisation are to be at least partially located on the European Continent and to share the goals the ten founding countries stated. However, countries that are located beyond European borders can join too, as observer or partner, provided they accept the Council’s guiding principles. These states are permitted to send representatives to the meetings of the Committee of Ministers and intergovernmental committees in order to observe these assemblies. With the Parliamentary Assembly, which consists of 318 men and women from all the member states,  they may attain observer status, meaning that they are authorized to engage in Assembly sessions, only without voting rights. Furthermore the Council also partners up with organizations such as the EU, the UN and a variety of international organizations, including the Arab League Educational, Cultural, Scientific Organization (ALECSO) or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The main purpose of the Council, with it’s members, observers and partners, is to assure democracy in and cooperation between all European countries, which makes this organisation one of the most important on our continent.

Surprising Europe

Surprising Europe

Housing Conditions

As the Eurasian primary destination for immigration, Europe finds itself swarmed with hordes of illegal

African migrants desperately searching for living conditions. Unfortunately, those people are often exploited not only in terms of work, but also when it comes to housing conditions. Sometimes they even end up in a worse situation than in their home countries, because after destroying their papers, to avoid deportation, they are no longer protected by any national law. This is best shown in the example of Paris, one of Europe’s biggest melting pots, where almost 90% of the African immigrants occupy unsafe buildings. It is common for up to three people to live in an apartment of no more than 10m², that is approximately the size of a below average bathroom, without radiator or access to hot water. Despite these

unsanitary circumstances the rents continue to increase. Apart from that, the majority of these buildings show incredible deficiencies in the construction. Such as, dilapidated structures missing fire extinguishers and the complete absence of smoke detectors or emergency exits. More than once such constructional defects resulted in devastating fires, causing numerous deaths. In order to combat these grievances various organizations have been founded, for instance the French “Malaika” company (means “angel” in Arabic). Regarding these developments the original objective of elevating one’s life standard is rarely achieved and the situation is even continuing to aggravate.

EU individual paragraph

Paragraph brainstorming

Original paragraph

Each year the European Union (EU) announces a new focus for the coming year. As it is very important to choose a serious topic to focus on, the EU carefully decides what would be the most worthwhile topic to concentrate on throughout the year. The Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE), which supports the well-being of families, proposed that 2014 should be the year to improve the quality of the lives of European citizens. After receiving several positive reactions from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the COAFCE started the campaign "European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life" for 2014. This topic is considered to be of growing importance, as inequality, social exclusion, and high levels of unemployment constitute the main issues nearly every family is facing today. The campaign will have four core themes, which aim to address and remedy these issues. All in all I consider the 2014 European Year to be truly useful because it not only plans on ensuring work family life balance and improving social integration, but also continues pursuing policy aim from the previous years.

[186 words]

Feedback summary 1

• Change the topic sentence (mention the focus in the topic sentence)
• Leave out or change second sentence

I decided to rewrite the whole paragraph because I did not like the first version after reading over it.

Second Paragraph

Each year the European Union (EU) announces a new focus and they designated 2014 to be the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life. As there are several matters that need addressing, it is very important to choose a serious topic to concentrate on throughout the year. Inequality, social exclusion, and high levels of unemployment constitute the main issues nearly every family is facing today. Therefore, the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE) proposed that 2014 should be the year to improve the quality of the lives of European citizens. After receiving a number of positive reactions from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the COAFCE started the campaign for 2014. The campaign will have four core themes, which aim to address and remedy the above mentioned issues. Besides planning on ensuring work family life balance and improving social integration, the organizations also continues pursuing policy aims from the previous years. All in all the 2014 European Year is going to be truly useful as it provides a great opportunity to concentrate on work and family life balance policies at the same time.
[188 words] 

Feedback summary 2

• Leave out “and” in the topic sentence à rewrite it
• Several matters --> unclear
• Second sentence to general
• Second sentence: I found out that “need to be addressed” is used more frequently than “need addressing” (especially in academic texts).
• Rewrite the concluding sentence
• In my final paragraph I want to have the exact word count

Final paragraph

The European Union (EU) decided to designate 2014 as the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life. Throughout the year they are going to focus on family life balance policies and work, as inequality, social exclusion, and high levels of unemployment constitute the main issues nearly every family is facing today. Therefore, the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE) proposed that 2014 should be the year to improve the quality of the lives of European citizens. After receiving a number of positive reactions from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the COAFCE started the campaign for 2014. The campaign will have four core themes, which aim to address and remedy the above mentioned issues. Besides planning on ensuring work family life balance and improving social integration, the organizations also continues pursuing policy aims from the previous years. All in all the 2014 European Year is going to be truly useful as it provides a great possibility to resolve the increasing conflict between family and work life with whom families all over Europe have to deal.

[180 words] 

Corrected final paragraph
The European Union (EU) decided (tense) to designate 2014 as the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life. Throughout the year they are going (tense) to focus on family life balance policies and work, as inequality, social exclusion, and high levels of unemployment constitute the main issues nearly every family is facing today. Therefore (ref.?), the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE) proposed that 2014 should be the year to improve the quality of the lives of European citizens. After receiving a number of positive reactions from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the COAFCE started the campaign for 2014. The campaign will have four core themes, which aim to address and remedy the above mentioned (punct.) issues. Besides planning on ensuring work family life balance (punct.) and improving social integration, the organizations also continues pursuing policy aims from the previous years. All in all the 2014 European Year is going to be truly useful as it provides a great possibility (MNN) to resolve the increasing conflict between family and work life with whom families all over Europe have to deal.

The European Union (EU) has decided to designate 2014 as the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life as a way to ensure the balance on family life and work. Today families face certain obstacles such as inequality, social exclusion, and high levels of unemployment. Therefore, the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE) proposed that 2014 should be the year to improve the quality of the lives of European citizens. After receiving positive feedback from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the COFACE started the campaign for 2014. The campaign will have four core themes, which aim to address and remedy the above-mentioned issues. Besides ensuring work/family life balance and improving social integration, the EU also continues pursuing policy aims from the previous years, such as to make people aware of the many ways they can take advantages of the EU. All in all the 2014 European Year is going to be truly useful as it provides a great opportunity to resolve the increasing conflict between family and work life with which families all over Europe have to deal. 

The European Union - Five related topics

1.) Environment within the EU (EAP)
A topic that, to my mind, is becoming increasingly important, is the EU related to the environment. Pollution is a serious issue worldwide, but why do we need environmental policy? I read a number of articles and have dealt with this subject a few times so it seems to be just the right topic for me. It would be challenging and exciting to find out how the EU deals with pollution and how they are connected to environment protection. What are they doing in order to protect our planet? Are they doing anything? Are there any programs/organizations to stand up against pollution? Are there any events arranged in behalf of the environment?
I would like to write about the environmental protection in the EU because this is a topic that has always been of great importance for me. It fascinates me how some people put all their effort in protecting our planet and their dedication truly touches me. I am thinking about much more that my academic paper will cover, but this is just a little foretaste. I am working on a draft for my work and I will try to focus on one specific topic I want to dwell on.

2.) The EU and Croatia
As I was thinking about some possible topics for my academic paper related to the EU, the first thought that crossed my mind was the newest and youngest member of the EU - Croatia. I was thinking about what could actually be interesting for me and due to the fact that my parents were born in Croatia and I am a Croatian citizen, it would pretty sure be the most interesting topic for me. It would be exciting to find out, what's the background behind Croatia becoming a member of the EU, as it is my home country. In this topic I am planning to analyze why it had become a member? What criteria have to be fulfilled in order to become a member state? Why did they want to become a member? Has something changed since then? If yes, what? If not, why? Are there going to be great changes? When will the "Kuna" be replaced by the "Euro"? Will they be able to adopt the Euro as its currency?

3.) Campaign for 2014
The focus on the coming year 2014 is the wealth of families and their work-life balace. The year is designated as the European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life. The COFACE stand up for equality, aim to ensure work family life balance, improve social integration and address child and fimily poverty. These are all very interesting topics to be concerned with. In my academic paper I would like to present the aims of this organization, their current process and answer some important questions some might have on this campaign.

4.) Abortion law within the EU
The abortion law is regulated by law all over the world and is of great importance for woman. Since I have dealt with this topic over the summer (it was one of my KGP topics), I would really like to write my academic paper about it to acquire even more knowledge about this interesting topic. How is abortion regulated by law in the countries within the EU? Are they same in every country? Why is the abortion law so restrictive in Ireland, even though Ireland is in the EU?

5.) Jobs in the EU 
It is well known that it is not so easy to gain and keep a job in Brussels for instance. How "good" do you have to be, to be able to work for the EU? Even though I would like to start with EU jobs in general, in this topic I will especially refer to the translation jobs within the EU, as this will probably be my future job. Which languages are in high demand? How can someone get such a great job as a translator?

These are my five topics that I've chosen. I've come up with some ideas how to make a structure but I am still kinda undecided which topic is the most interesting and suitable for me. It is not easy to decide which topic I want to write about in my academic paper due to the fact that the EU is an environment that inspired me with a incredible amount of great ideas. Please let me know which topic you like the best! Thanks ;)

My Homemade Apple Chips

Today I was craving for a snack while studying and I figured out why not make healthy chips? Are you asking yourself what I am talking about and how the hell chips can be healthy?! Well, continue reading and I will show you how ;)

Take two or three ripe apples (depends on how big they are).

First remove the core from the apple. 

Next cut the apples into round slices.

Apply baking paper on the baking sheet and place the apple slices on it.

Sprinkle the slices with cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 100°C and bake the apple slices for one hour. Then remove them from the oven and flip them over. The apples will be floppy but don't worry, they will crisp up later.

Return the apple slices into the oven and bake for another hour. Turn the oven off and let cool completely inside the oven (this is when they will crisp up).

Once they've cooled, enjoy! This is perfect as a totally guilt free snack while studying ;)

There are various ways you can serve them. I also tried them with yogurt, cinnamon and cashews and I can totally recommend it!