Migration is a humanitarian crisis requiring a European solution, not a Maltese response, former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi said in a heartfelt appeal to MEPs in Brussels yesterday.

“Mare nostrum [the Mediterranean] is a cemetery and a shame on all of us,” Dr Gonzi told the European Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, adding that migration posed a challenge to the EU to live up to its core values.

Not long after he spoke, news broke that about 400 migrants had died in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya when their boat capsized.

The boat, carrying about 550 migrants in total, flipped about 24 hours after leaving the Libyan coast, according to some of the 150 survivors who were rescued and brought to Italy yesterday morning. About 7,500 people from 22 different vessels were saved and taken to Italy between Friday and Monday, while last night reports came in of another 2,000 on 21 boats in the process of being rescued.

Dr Gonzi told MEPs: “Migration is a politically sensitive problem and fodder for political approaches that appeal to basic instinct, not basic values. This must not stop us from creating a policy that fits Europe’s core values.”

He was invited to address the committee that was discussing a bipartisan report being prepared on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach to migration.

As the former prime minister of a frontline country, he spoke about Malta’s experience in dealing with the challenge.

He said Malta had one of the highest rates of approved refugee applications. “They were victims of horrific events,” Dr Gonzi stressed.

His message of compassion and call for solidarity was echoed by Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola who said member states should stop bickering about pull factors while “bodies continue to wash up on our beaches”.

Dr Gonzi was critical of member states that retained “a rigid and negative position” on the issue, saying this was the first hurdle a migration policy must overcome.

“Malta’s strategic location should not exonerate member states that are physically distant from a problem that frontline countries have to witness practically every day of the week,” he said.

An EU policy on migration is expected in May. Such a policy should put people at the heart of solutions, Dr Gonzi stressed: “Solutions should respect the dignity of each person with no distinction.” He stressed that the “fair sharing of responsibility” must be a central pillar of a realistic migration policy, otherwise it would not work but only cause “social havoc”.

Dr Metsola stressed there was a 40 per cent increase last year in applications for international protection in Europe, reaching 650,000.

She highlighted the importance of solidarity with affected countries as well as addressing the problem of human traffickers and dealing with the root causes of migration.

“The Mediterranean has become a centre of broken promises and hopes… we’ve had warning after warning that migration flows are going to increase.

“A European solution is required. We need to send a strong message to our citizens that Europe is with you,” she said.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the events of the last few days should serve as a reminder “that we need to be aware of the realities at our borders”.

“An unprecedented influx of migrants is the new norm. We need to adjust our responses accordingly,” he said, adding the new policy on migration was the start of a process to address the challenge.

The report being prepared will assess the situation in the Mediterranean and look for a holistic approach to the problem, including how to deal with human traffickers and smuggling networks exploiting the vulnerable.

The approach is based on the need for the EU to step up fair sharing of responsibility and solidarity towards member states and the need to prevent further loss of life at sea. It also considers that further avenues of legal migration should be sought.

Discussions also revolve around the need to include third parties in a strategy of cooperation with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East with regard to financial, humanitarian and political assistance.

Labour Party MEP Miriam Dalli questioned what the European Commission planned to do to strengthen Frontex patrols.

She reiterated the point raised that reception capacities in member states must be taken into account, saying other member states should not be allowed to ignore the problem.

The situation in Libya had to be addressed, she added, as smugglers were forcing migrants to board overloaded boats and pushing them towards a journey that could lead to their death.

“If we want to tackle the root of migration we need to work together with third countries and open up a dialogue with them,” Dr Dalli said.

The latest Mediterranean tragedy was reported by Save the Children, who said the survivors were mainly sub-Saharan Africans but gave no further details, Reuters reported. Sources told Times of Malta that they had departed from Zuwara, to the west of Tripoli.

Before this incident there had already been more than 500 deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa this year.

Separately, the EU border control agency Frontex said migrant traffickers had fired shots to prevent their wooden boat being confiscated after rescuers saved the 250 people it was carrying off the coast of Libya.

After the migrants had been transferred, a speedboat ap-proached and its crew fired several shots into the air before the assailants sped away with the empty migrant boat, Frontex said.

It said the episode marked the second time this year that armed smugglers had taken back a vessel used to transport migrants following a rescue in the central Mediterranean.

Two airlifted

Two migrants rescued by an Italian supply vessel were yesterday taken to Mater Dei Hospital for urgent medical treatment.

Following a request by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome, the Armed Forces of Malta dispatched an Italian military mission helicopter to the vessel.

The patients, believed to be young sub-Saharan African males, were winched aboard and examined by an AFM doctor. On landing in Malta, they were taken to hospital.

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