Editorial

The news that joint maritime patrols by Frontex in the central Mediterranean are likely to resume on September 10 is most welcome. While the patrols cannot be regarded as the long-term solution to the vexed problem of illegal immigration - that solution lies in removing the abject poverty and conditions that prompt people to take desperate measures to escape in the first place - their effectiveness in ameliorating the situation in the immediate term is hard to dispute.

For Malta, the patrols hold significance at many levels.

First, and most importantly, they act as a deterrent to criminal people-smugglers operating from Libyan ports in particular. Those leaving Libya and landing in Malta and other parts of southern Europe are being organised and helped by smugglers of human beings. If Libya, for reasons of geography and lack of human and operational resources, finds it difficult logistically and operationally to control this human trafficking, then the European Union, Malta included, has shown it is ready to help.

Maritime patrols, strategically deployed - hopefully, perhaps in future with the cooperation of the Libyan authorities following the recent talks with the Armed Forces of Malta on search and rescue arrangements - act as a deterrent. Criminals do not like to find their operations confronted by the forces of law and order. The Frontex joint maritime patrols - placed as close to Libyan territorial waters as possible - help in controlling human smuggling from its shores and the tragedies that inevitably follow.

Secondly, there is the psychological boost to EU-Malta relations, which the presence of joint maritime patrols conveys. Malta has been urging action in this regard - and others - for the last two years.

Despite many promises, action on the ground has been dilatory. At last, Malta's pleas appear to have been heeded. This is the kind of solidarity and burden sharing the Maltese people had been led to expect when they voted for the island to join the EU, but hitherto been denied.

The return of the Frontex patrols demonstrates a greater seriousness in dealing with the problems of illegal immigration which Malta welcomes. The test will be whether the promise will be kept to make next year's patrols both more permanent and deployed much earlier in the season. Only in this way will those who are carrying out nefarious criminal activities from Libya get the clear message that the path of illegal immigration through the central Mediterranean has been blocked. This will surely be welcomed also by Libya and spur its own efforts in controlling illegal immigration in its own country.

There is one potential cloud on the horizon. This involves the quality and quantity of military assets deployed in the next Frontex patrols. During the last operation in July, Malta - the country with the smallest navy in the EU - provided the bulk of the naval vessels. Italy, whose interests are at least as threatened as Malta's, provided none. It is hoped this, and subsequent patrols, will see Italy - which seems to be viewing Frontex patrols in a better light lately - take a leading role and that other nations with a prime interest in the Mediterranean will also play their parts.

While Germany commendably provided aerial assets in July, the presence of other North European countries this time round would do much to ram home the message that what happens on illegal immigration in the central Mediterranean should be as much a concern to the EU as what happens closer to home.