Malta wants EU patrols to start again

Malta has appealed for the swift resumption of the EU borders patrols - with the added participation of Libya - as the Frontex operations ended yesterday.

Malta is once again left to fend for itself in the struggle against illegal immigration as the Nautilus II operation terminated its one-month operation.

When contacted, both Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Armed Forces Commander Carmel Vassallo said it was too early to gauge the success of the operations.

The figures of landings, however, indicate that the Frontex operations were effective. During the same one-month period last year, a total of 700 illegal immigrants arrived here; in the last month there were some 320 new arrivals.

There was a surge in landings just before Frontex started its operations. For the first 18 days, there were hardly any interceptions and the figures only shot up in the last week.

During a visit to Malta earlier this month, European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said the operation was dissuading human trafficking, so much so that he was informed that the market price to make the trip had gone down from $1,000 to $250 a week prior to the mission.

Brig. Vassallo augured that the patrols would resume before the end of summer because many choose to flee Africa by boat and risk their lives during the warm season.

With a limited budget, Frontex had promised to analyse its Mediterranean mission and possibly resume patrols later in the summer. But the AFM chief was evidently frustrated by the fact that, despite its very limited resources, it was the Maltese army that contributed mainly to Frontex. Suffice it to say that 90 per cent of the cover for surface assets was carried out by the AFM, he said. A minimal contribution by Greece, Spain, France and Italy and a more convincing input by non-Mediterranean country Germany completed the Frontex mission.

"Ideally, we would need cooperation with Libya, and the patrols should be held closer to Libya," Brig. Vassallo said.

Dr Borg said there were positive signals from Libya in rekindling the tripartite discussion with Italy and Malta.

"September is a critical month for immigration, so I really hope Frontex resumes its operations in the Mediterranean soon," he added. The minister is reluctant to judge the EU border agency's success: "The figures of arrivals are down on last year, but maybe it's just a coincidence.

"Who knows? Perhaps Libya is enforcing its borders."