Editorial

The season of asylum seekers arriving, or not arriving in Malta, has started with a vengeance. Illegal immigrants in search of freedom and a new life are learning what nightmares are if, that is, they survive the crossing. A big number of them have already failed to do so.

If anybody wished to see what those who survived went through, enough visual evidence was provided this week: Anguished, exhausted, traumatised. More of these unfortunates continue to land on our shores. This may not be their final or preferred destination, yet, this is where they end up seeking refuge, some of them only thanks to the magnificent efforts of the Armed Forces of Malta, that succeed, at times against great odds - rough seas and darkness - to haul them, literally, to safety.

The problem will remain with us for some time yet; for as long, in fact, as the countries they are fleeing from continue to be economically poor, or undemocratically, in some cases brutally, governed.

As summer proceeds, the number of so-called boat people will obviously increase. Not so obvious is whether the European Union can tackle the issue with the immediacy and efficacy required. Malta, which finds itself placed in the migrants' path, made its position clear early on. With all the goodwill in the world, its limited resources, human and logistical, simply cannot cope with any sizeable influx of illegal immigrants. The government called on the EU to treat this humanitarian tragedy holistically, the issue being one that does not just affect Malta, Lampedusa, Sicily, Spain or Portugal, but the EU as a whole. Ultimately, there had to be a European solution.

It called for diplomatic efforts by the EU that would include Libya, which is the point of departure for many of these journeys. Indeed, Tripoli must make a contribution to the solution of the problem. These efforts have not worked, yet, and so need to be intensified.

Libya has argued that its coastline is too long for it to guarantee the prevention of such crossings, and, more to the point, its hinterland too porous to prevent people seeking asylum crossing into the country.

For its part, the EU is planning six joint operations this year and four study projects with Frontex. It has also allocated €8 million to finance these operations. Will that be enough? After all, years into this phenomenon of illegal immigration, the idea of "study projects" and joint initiatives is hardly one to inspire a great deal of confidence.

What is required, fast, is a credible commitment by the Union as a whole to a more creative and tangible approach, one that addresses the source, or sources, of the trouble. Poverty in Africa, which last year's G8 summit committed itself to eradicate and has done little about, is clearly one good reason for following a dream. Of the promised billions of dollars at that summit, only a comparative trickle has poured out of G8 coffers. Political solutions to the democratic deficit in many parts of Africa must be considered as too long-term for any swift amelioration of the situation, but promoting those solutions remains vital.

In the meantime, Malta cannot look away - and has not. The role of Good Samaritan, limited as it is by our size and finances, cannot be discarded and the country's political will to mobilise opinion in the European Parliament, at summits called by the presidency of the Union, must be displayed at every forum called to discuss this grave issue. Lives are at stake and much else.