A year ago, 366 men, women and children died only 800 metres off the coast of Lampedusa. They came to Europe seeking protection but all they found was death.

The Mediterranean – for millennia the epicentre of civilisations – has, in the last years, turned into the epicentre of a silent human catastrophe. Since the beginning of this year, at least 3,000 people drowned or were reported missing – nearly four times the amount in all of 2013. Europe has a moral responsibility to stop this.

We should avoid mixing up several debates and challenges: there are people who want to emigrate; there are people who seek asylum from political prosecution; there are humanitarian refugees who flee from extreme poverty, natural disasters and diseases; refugees that escape from wars and civil unrest looking for temporary protection.

If we lay aside a few serious misconceptions we could begin to seriously address the problem.

Firstly, Europe is not just a passive bystander, helplessly on the receiving end of the waves of boat people. Our inability to agree on coherent EU immigration and asylum policies and our lack of commitment to a fully-fledged Euro-Mediterranean policy provides a fertile ground for the heinous crimes being committed by unscrupulous and murderous traffickers.

With more decisive action on our part, many would not be obliged to play the roulette that is the irregular sea crossing. Instead, they could have the possibility – but not the guarantee – of residing legally, thereby integrating and contributing to the economy.

A greater EU commitment to the Mediterranean would help stabilise the region, thereby reducing the need to emigrate in the first place. We need more long-term engagement on the spot; for example through common European reconstruction programmes.

Secondly, Europe is not full. We have not done our fair share and it is not time to pull up the drawbridge. Only four per cent of Syrian refugees have found shelter in Europe whereas Lebanon, a country of five million, is hosting one million Syrians. Turkey is at the forefront of both the Syria and Iraq refugee crisis. Places like Lampedusa or Malta are impossibly stretched but the solution is for other EU countries and the EU as a whole to do more, applying the principle of a fair sharing of responsibility and solidarity.

Thirdly, we should also counter the claim of those who suggest that to “let all refugees in” would solve all conflicts around the world. A proper asylum and refugee policy means having fair and clear rules, with some limitations and priorities, so that those most in need are protected.

If we do not deliver on migration, people will look for a solution from populist, racist and xenophobic politicians

With a new Commission soon to take office we must see a new impetus with regard to the humanitarian emergency and asylum and also on the question of an immigration policy. The newly-launched Triton operation must have significant financial and operational resources to effectively run search and rescue operations and must not just be a complement to Italy’s praiseworthy Mare Nostrum.

We must quickly establish migration management agreements with countries of origin and transit to ensure that traffickers do not enjoy the free hand they currently have to operate scot-free off the shores of some countries in North Africa. Addressing the crisis in Libya must be a key component of this strategy.

The instability across our neighbourhood means that this problem is not going to disappear. The EU has taken positive steps on asylum recently but there is more to be done.

On migration, the first crucial aspect is to conceive a policy that is not simply a second step of asylum policy. The EU’s lack of a migration policy means that although our countries are a constant attraction to the labour force that many EU countries need, these people are entering irregularly, are obliged to remain in the shadows and are deprived of a chance to integrate. The EU needs people, is getting people and then is losing them. If this were not tragic, it would be absurd.

We must address this issue, not only for humanitarian reasons but also to tackle the EU’s demographic challenge and the sustainability of our welfare state. We must firstly work to further foster circular mobility, improve the recognition of qualifications and engage more with diaspora communities.

Secondly, all aspects of migration must be integrated ever more deeply into our development cooperation, especially with countries of origin and transit, where a lack of human rights and bad governance are often the primary reason for emigration.

Finally, we must begin to work seriously to achieve a fully-fledged legal migration policy. Europe has always been and will remain a continent characterised by migration. It is therefore logical that it also has a system for legal migration, with clear and fair criteria, similar to those in other major migration countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and various countries in Latin America.

The situation we are faced with requires urgent solutions which protect those in danger, satisfy our economic needs and demographic challenges and support the countries on the front line of the vast share of the arrivals.

If we do not deliver, people will look for a solution from populist, racist and xenophobic politicians. We do not need to go back too far in our own history to see how disastrous such solutions would be.

• Mr Schulz is in Lampedusa for a conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Martin Schulz is president of the European Parliament.