Joint patrols and confusion

That irregular immigration is a hard nut to crack is beyond doubt. Nor am I expecting this government, or any government for that matter, to eliminate this problem forever. The influxes of irregular migrants will endure and unless the European Union wakes up and starts taking stock of the situation it will be facing bigger problems in the not so distant future.

Although it is being reported that the EU has become more aware of the plight being shared by small member states at its southern borders, so far there have been more expressions of concern from European politicians with clout than a real commitment on the need for shared responsibilities.

This lacuna is leaving migrant-receiving states little choice but to deal with the problem on their own, as they deem fit and what they consider to be in the best national interest. To make matters worse, the EU has been baking anti-detention policies and reception-friendly regulations like hot cheesecakes, leaving responsibility-sharing policies on the back burner and in the process penalising further small receiving islands, like Malta, Lampedusa and the Canaries.

Having said that, both the Canaries and Lampedusa have the support of Spain and Italy on the mainland, an advantage not enjoyed by Malta, which is a sovereign state whose area is a mere 315 sq km.

As the EU continues to double-cross its member states, there is now a rush by receiving states to reach bilateral agreements with Libya on immigration-stemming initiatives. Libya is doubtlessly the main exporter of migrants on the southern Mediterranean route affecting Malta and Italy, so there is logic in attempting to cajole the Libyans into lending a helping hand. It is true that even the EU is trying to get the Libyans on board the famous joint patrols but there are difficulties.

Not surprisingly, Italy seems to be making very good progress with Libya on the bilateral level. Out of the blue and while everyone was waiting with bated breath for the EU-sponsored joint patrols to start with or without Libya's participation, and at a time when an inter-ministerial meeting in Malta was purposely suspended to apparently accommodate Libyan interests, Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato is widely reported to have announced that Italy and Libya agreed - bilaterally - to participate in joint patrols. The reports on the international media went into all the details of how the Italian police will soon be travelling to Tripoli to board the Libyan patrol boats and that Libyan officials would be in Rome to monitor operations there.

In a PBS interview, the Italian Ambassador vehemently denied the reports about joint patrols, thus adding spice to the confusion. But he did confirm that the Italians had indeed reached some form of collaboration with Libya on fighting illegal trafficking of persons on the Libyan mainland and confirmed that physical exchanges of security human and technical resources were contemplated.

Joint patrols or no joint patrols we now have it from the Ambassador's mouth that the Italians and the Libyans are collaborating on a bilateral level and have reached some form of alternative or parallel arrangement, something the Maltese government seems to be light years away from reaching with the Libyans.

The Italian Ambassador quickly qualified the news with the proviso that Italy did nothing behind anyone's back, an obvious reference to Malta. Who else in the Mediterranean is competing with Italy for Libyan smiles?

I cannot but stress further that the Italians, on the basis of an unwritten arrangement, had already managed to repatriate to Libya hundreds of immigrants who were confirmed to have had departed from Libyan shores. To date the Nationalist government has failed to make similar arrangements with Libya. To be fair, Malta has repatriated immigrants to Egypt within hours of their arrival but that only accounts for a small percentage of the net national intake. The bulk of immigrants come from Libya. The Egyptian arrangement goes a long way to describe the very good relations existing between Malta and Egypt. But what has happened to our relations with Libya?

The news that Italy has reached some arrangement with Libya must have sent shivers down the spines of our Interior and Foreign Affairs ministers who must have gone red in the face with anger and embarrassment. The news about the Italo-Libyan handshake broke last Wednesday. As the Opposition's main spokesman on home affairs I issued a press statement on Thursday and went on air on Friday asking the Government to clarify its position. All these requests were met with a deafening silence.

I thought that at the Auberge d'Aragon and at Palazzo Parisio they must be scurrying for some palatable excuses. I have been shadowing Dr Tonio Borg for a long eight years now. He won't give me the satisfaction of a reply if he knows he's got a problem. You see, Tonio only comes out from his hole when he has something nice to say or has a well articulated excuse, no matter how rotten it is inside.

I am penning this article on Saturday, September 16, and so far government ministers are conspicuous by their resonant silence. "Gavin, it's the new way of doing politics, stupid!" would be Dr Gonzi's standard response.

Dr Gulia is Shadow Minister of the Interior