The Task Force for the Mediterranean set up a few months ago to help countries like Malta with irregular migration was a step in the right direction. Malta, along with the other countries involved, welcomed it as such.

A few days ago, however, Malta, at the European Council of Home Affairs Ministers, decried the fact that the task force had failed to take any concrete action, adding that it risked becoming another failed attempt at preventing further disasters in the Mediterranean.

The respite in Malta, possibly due to Mare Nostrum efforts by the Italians, must not lead anyone to believe that we have a handle on the crisis.

This is far from the truth and the chilling and disturbing facts. When we used to read about one boatload of refugees, we now hear of 25 boatloads rescued by Italy in one day.

Frontex reports that 42,000 migrants came into the EU in the first four months of this year, mostly to the Mediterranean countries. Some figures put the number of refugees waiting on the Libyan coast at around 500,000, a continuing bonanza for the migrant smuggling networks preying on these unfortunate individuals who are charged $1,000 (€738) for a dangerous and unsure passage away from their misery.

The calming of the sea around us will only exacerbate the problem of illegal migration and one cannot rule out an impending onslaught like never seen before. Even the limits of the capacity of a relatively large country like Italy will be tested and probably breached.

Already there are grumbles in the Italian Parliament that Mare Nostrum is costing too much to the Italian government and there are suggestions to call it off. God help us if this happens and the floodgates are thrown open.

It is no surprise that a few days before the European Parliament election, the former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, stated that if the EU fails to find a solution to the question of migration, it should suspend Schengen.

We have seen again and again that in spite of the pressure of Malta, Italy and the other countries hit hard by this crisis, the EU has been unable to do anything effective, and the crisis is getting worse. It is simply not realistic to expect an EU miracle.

Countries have to look to the United Nations for solutions. As about half of the countries involved in this unstoppable surge of migration are not even part of the EU; it is therefore only the UN that can mandate a comprehensive strategy involving all the countries touched by this ongoing tragedy. This should not, however, absolve the EU from doing more until the UN takes the lead in forging ahead with a comprehensive solution.

Malta has the opportunity to use its experience at the UN to broaden the debate on refugees

On the Maltese national front, a step in the right direction was taken when the coordination was recently made the responsibility of the President to ensure that the matter receives the non-partisan support it deserves.

Internationally, Malta has the opportunity to use its experience at the UN to broaden the debate on refugees, and the government should, as proposed before, and in line with the government’s own priorities of its EU presidency in 2017, bring the matter to the UN General Assembly for its support in accordance with the Preamble of the 1954 Refugees Convention.

The idea for the UN to open and operate refugee camps in Libya or, until the political situation stabilises there, as close as possible to the Libyan coast from where most migrants leave, is still the only hope for a comprehensive and lasting solution. This will not only prevent the unfortunate migrants from the rage of the rough Mediterranean waters but also from the presently uncontrolled illicit network of unscrupulous individuals or groups exploiting the misery of the refugees.

The main advantage of this idea is that refugees would still get their asylum once they are processed and they qualify for it, without having to face the last most hazardous part of their journey, namely the unknown dangers they face crossing the Mediterranean in unreliable boats.

Understandably, in the present political circumstances, the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) is not considering such an option, having denied a few days ago that it was considering such a plan.

Whatever the circumstances, the UN should not dismiss this option, which could be the only long-term solution. This option was also recently proposed by the president of the European Parliament and the director general of the International Organisation for Migration. A few days ago, the Prime Minister of Italy urged the United Nations to intervene in Libya to try to limit the departures.

This is an idea whose time has come, and the UN should not dismiss it lightly. The alternative is continuing the useless debate and discussion while unscrupulous individuals continue to exploit the unfortunate masses that will do anything to escape the misery and despair in which they find themselves in, and while countries like Malta continue to see their limited resources to deal with this influx reaching breaking point.

Michael Bartolo is a former Ambassador of Malta to the United Nations in Geneva.