A few years ago, when we visited Berlin, I noted that German airport immigration officials demanded passports or other identity documentation, and I wondered whether Schengen rules were being interpreted differently in different countries, knowing that no immigration inspection exists at Malta International Airport for Schengen arrivals.

One trusts that our authorities know what they’re doing and that our security forces have a 24-hour watchful eye on Malta and Gozo’s shoreline, knowing that Italy openly declares that its irregular North African migrants are not detained and are free to roam the country.

The media reports that Malta’s military claim they do not have the resources to even guard the new Parliament building, and the finding of a Kalashnikov of claimed North African provenance at a recent Malta murder site, inevitably makes one wonder.