For 10 years now, Malta has faced a disproportionate migratory flow consisting of boat people leaving the Libyan shores to cross over to continental Europe.

To date, about 16,000 migrants arrived in Malta, most of them saved on the high seas by the unsung heroes in our armed forces. Hundreds of thousands more made it to Italy, which is their preferred destination.

Year in, year out, successive Nationalist administrations worked assiduously to manage the situation without panicking and without fomenting fear among the public. We did so in Malta but we also did so at a European and at an international level.

Thousands of migrants were granted international protection and moved on to other countries. Several hundreds were repatriated after their asylum application was rejected. And, according to press reports, fewer than 5,000 boat people remain in Malta now.

We also constantly sought more solidarity from the EU. We obtained financial aid to the tune of more than €100 million that helped us cater for the arriving migrants as well as replace our entire fleet of patrol boats, surveillance aircraft and other assets.

All the while, we made it clear that this challenge could not be solved by money alone and we sought solidarity through the resettlement of migrants to other countries. So far, about 700 have been relocated to other EU countries, whereas another 1,300 were resettled in the US.

This is not insignificant.

And because we acted in a dignified, yet determined manner, we earned respect and we even won support to host the prestigious European Asylum Support Office here in Malta.

It is this goodwill and this reputation that were put on the line when, last week, the Prime Minister readied two planes to send back a group of Somali immigrants who had been brought to shore. At their most vulnerable, the Prime Minister used them as bargaining chips, like a schoolyard bully, rather than defending their inalienable human rights.

One would have expected the Government, which is just four months in office, to have raised the issue with a degree of urgency and insistence at EU level and make its own case for EU solidarity. Had it done so, we would have supported it without hesitation. But it gave up before it even tried.

Instead, it started sorting out which ones were to stay and which ones would be forced back to Libya, a country that is still unable to guarantee the security of its own citizens, let alone of Somali migrants.

As the Government faced our furious opposition in Parliament last Tuesday to desist from its ominous plans, news came in, even as the debate was underway, that the European Court of Human Rights had blocked the Government’s plans. This is not an EU court and this means that, even if we were not an EU country, we would still have been issued with this order.

In a pathetic bid to deflect criticism, the Government claimed that the PN Administration and even I personally had done worse. This was pure spin and a travesty of the truth. It is no wonder that this sorry excuse did not work.

This unwarranted crisis has left the country reeling in damaging consequences. Two in particular.

The first is that the Prime Minister’s clumsy gambit served to reignite the ugly spectre of xenophobia in Malta.

Writing in this column in October 2008, at the peak of a record year of almost 2,800 arrivals, I had said that “there is one challenge that I find even more grave than that of immigration and this is the impact that this phenomenon is leaving on the very social fabric of our society as a result of the rising tide of xenophobia and racism”.

Now, in the space of a few short days since the Prime Minister’s decision, we have witnessed the worst spike in xenophobia and racism in our country: from racist remarks on the social media to verbal and physical abuse against black persons. A public demonstration, with xenophobic undertones, in support of the Government, was also being planned.

Secondly, the Government’s behaviour and the inept statements by the Prime Minister have tarnished Malta’s reputation abroad considerably.

This kind of brinkmanship has no place in the European Union

This was clearly illustrated by the deluge of negative press we attracted worldwide.

Likewise, the Government was inundated with a string of condemnations from civil society organisations, from national bodies and European institutions.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstrom, issued a very stern warning to the Government and even the Socialist president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, tweeted Malta to stick to its obligations towards migrants.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Government’s behaviour will be counter-productive. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that if you need support from someone you are not likely to get it by resorting to threats and insults.

By the same token, the Prime Minister will not get very far by telling Europe to ‘smell the coffee’, by insulting EU representatives or by threatening to veto EU decisions that are ‘unrelated’ to immigration.

This kind of brinkmanship has no place in the European Union.

Joseph Muscat had vowed to keep us out of Europe. Now that we are in, he seems set on isolating us.

This cannot be in the national interest.

Simon Busuttil is the Leader of the Opposition.