Stemming the tide of migrants

The arrival of 256 irregular immigrants packed on din­ghies this month has created waves of concern. Leaving aside those whose fears are based purely on xenophobic and racist sentiments (the “send them back to their country” type), the situation raised legitimate questions.

The goalposts in Libya have shifted. For years, the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi used boat people as pawns to extract money from Europe.

He then found a partner in Silvio Berlusconi’s government, which hammered out a deal on patrols to push back potential refugees to Libya, condemned, albeit too late, in a landmark judgment by the European Court of Human Rights. Europe looked away because it was convenient to do so.

Gaddafi is dead and with him, hopefully, the controversial agreement. Berlusconi is no longer heading the Italian government.

This does not mean unscrupulous smugglers have stopped exploiting desperate people prepared to risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean.

Sub-Saharan Africans, many of whom fled their war-torn countries, are still being mistaken as Gaddafi mercenaries in Libya where tens of thousands now carry weapons. Do you blame them for wanting to escape?

The Libyan Foreign Minister did not mince his words last week when he warned that a deteriorating security situation in the south of Libya was making it likely that immigrant crossings would increase.

UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini said the agency knew from immigrants who had arrived in Malta and Italy that there were “many others” exploring the possibility of leaving Libya and crossing the Medi­terranean.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici also warned Malta was bracing itself for a “challenging summer”.

Is there an immediate solution? The answer is clear – no.

But some concrete steps can be taken to try stem the flow. Tripoli needs to be persuaded to sign up to the UN Refugee Convention and give free rein to the UNHCR to set up a proper structure in Libya. That would mean the UNHCR would identify the refugees from the economic migrants – before they attempt the sea crossing.

Border patrols to stop tragedies at sea are a must, provided potential refugees are not being pushed back and away from the media glare. The answer is not in giving Libya an open cheque to put asylum seekers in detention camps.

The Libyan government needs to regain stability and reorganise itself, and introduce some semblance of law and order seven months after the dictator’s death.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici must use the good relationship his government has built with the Libyan authorities to go on a political overdrive when he meets his Libyan counterpart in Malta in the coming days.

Once the necessary structures to protect asylum seekers are in place, Malta and Italy should take Tripoli’s migration concerns to the EU stage, even if Europe clearly has more pressing problems of a fiscal nature to deal with.

Of course, the ultimate ­solution is to eradicate war and poverty from Africa but that is a distant pipedream.

The numbers of irregular immigrants will undoubtedly rise this summer. The Prime Minister has so far handled a very delicate situation well. The Opposition leader will probably not miss the chance to capitalise on public disgruntlement, irrespective of migrants’ right to protection. He will not be the first. Nicolas Sarkozy resorted to such rhetoric; Italy’s Lega Nord relishes its anti-immigrant talk; Greece’s extreme right Golden Dawn has made dangerous inroads...

But before all of us lose sight of this impending problem, it is essential to take note of Ms Boldrini’s comment to The Sunday Times last weekend: “If people put themselves through such a dangerous journey it is because they have no choice. Nobody chooses to be a refugee.”