The government will next week seek to persuade fellow member states that the EU should trigger its emergency mechanism that provides for obligatory burden-sharing, to help Malta cope with migrants fleeing Libya.
Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici admitted yesterday that some EU countries are not convinced of Malta’s case that the conflict in Libya is an exceptional circumstance that may lead to a sudden influx of migrants.
But he said diplomatic efforts to convince the sceptics would continue ahead of a Home Affairs Ministerial Council meeting on April 11.
The mechanism would provide irregular immigrants with temporary protection status of up to two years allowing them to be relocated to other member states.
The mechanism, in place since 2001, has never been put into practice and can be activated in exceptional circumstances that lead to a mass influx of displaced people.
During a media briefing yesterday, Dr Mifsud Bonnici stopped short of mentioning the sceptical countries, saying he understood the issue was politically sensitive especially where far-right anti-immigrant parties were popular.
He was speaking a day after EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom informed the government that a proposal to trigger the temporary protection instrument would be presented “when circumstances so require”.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici had written to the Commissioner a day earlier asking for the mechanism to be activated.
Ms Malmstrom did not outline what the necessary circumstances were and the directive does not quantify mass influx.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici made it clear though that the arrival of 819 mostly African migrants in the space of 24 hours last week was only an indication of what might be in store as the weather improves.
He insisted that what was happening in Libya was an extraordinary situation and could not be compared with irregular migrant movements in previous years.
“Malta is not sinking, and the country has handled the 819 migrants who arrived but I have to take into consideration what is happening in Libya. I would be a fool to ignore the fact there is a civil war going on,” he said.
This, he insisted, was not a normal migratory flow and urged the EU to be prepared rather than be caught unawares.
“In the past we have received more migrants but these came in smaller groups over a longer period. Those who arrived here now did so in a very short time-span,” he said.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici yesterday also lifted the lid on his exchanges over the past few weeks with Ilkka Laitinen, the executive director of the EU’s border control agency Frontex.
He said Malta put forward several conditions related to the acceptance of a Frontex mission, including the setting up of a common processing centre in the EU to handle all rescued migrants and distribute them among the member states.
The proposal was not accepted and instead Frontex suggested the deployment of a rapid border response team in Malta, which would oblige member states to contribute in one way or another. The government turned down this proposal unless its conditions were also met.
“I could not accept a partial solution that would still leave the country burdened with all rescued migrants,” Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.