Italy and Malta have historically had close links on several economic fronts. But the issue over who should assume responsibility for African migrants in distress at sea has been a major bone of contention for at least a decade.
Malta has long argued that any rescued migrants should be taken to the closest safe port, in line with international conventions. Italy, on the other hand, insists they should be taken to the country which saves them, prompting a logistical and moral dilemma.
The disagreement has fuelled several diplomatic spats along the years to the extent that Italy has sometimes gone to the ridiculous extent of declaring Lampedusa to be an unsafe port. This often left desperate asylum seekers stranded for days on maritime or fishing boats as politicians argued over who should take them in.
It was not only humanitarian organisations that condemned this kind of behaviour but anybody with any conscience could clearly see through politicians flexing their nationalistic muscle.
It was therefore welcome to hear Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Giulio Terzi and his Maltese counterpart, Tonio Borg, announce in a meeting in Valletta last week that they were discussing the issue of migrants’ rescue. A commission will see military teams from both sides try to set parameters of who should carry out a rescue in certain scenarios and who should take the survivors.
Italy and Malta should be joint partners to tackle such a human challenge – ideally with the support of the EU’s border control agency.
Somewhat disconcerting during the news conference, however, was hearing Mr Terzi say that the Italian Government was renegotiating its arrangement on immigration with the new Libyan government.
In 2009, an Italian Government led by Silvio Berlusconi had signed a disgraceful agreement with the Libyan regime through which the Italians would automatically send back to Libya immigrants rescued at sea without giving them the opportunity to claim protection under international law. Italy and Malta saw a drastic reduction in the number of immigrants on their shores and the problem went under the radar. But at what cost?
Does anyone know what happened to those sent back to Libya, even if they were entitled to refugee protection? Were they sent to the desert or back to their despotic regimes? Were they left to rot and die in inhuman and degrading cells? The horror stories of such decisions have started to become known.
The practice was declared illegal by the European Court of Human Rights in a landmark judgment last February, which ruled that Italy broke the human rights of Somali and Eritrean nationals rescued at sea when they were immediately taken back to Libya.
Libya has still not signed up to the UN refugee convention and such a signature should be a mandatory condition for any European country seeking to strike a deal with Tripoli.
A year since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, irregular immigrants keep trying their luck to reach Europe through dangerous means. Desperate people will not stop trying to flee wars and economic hardship.
Muammar Gaddafi may be dead and Mr Berlusconi unseated but striking a despicable and illegal agreement with a new Libyan Administration does not make it any more acceptable.
Italy cannot and should not be allowed to repeat an illegal push-back agreement with Libya – especially if it has the hidden blessing of the Maltese Government.