Interpol is planning to set up a cooperation network with the EU’s border control agency Frontex to share information on migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Such a development would help Malta in the screening of illegal migrants reaching its shores, Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said yesterday.

This would not necessarily affect the country’s 18-month detention policy, he said, but it would provide more extensive data on the people arriving here.

Such operational cooperation network is one of the items being discussed at the 40th Interpol European Regional Conference being held in Malta. The theme of the conference is the international police network’s global responses in Europe to challenge international crime. Interpol has 188 member countries.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said cooperation between Frontex and Interpol was an act of solidarity from Interpol.

He told the 120 conference delegates that migration was a serious issue for Malta, which had seen the arrival of more than 1,100 migrants in the past six weeks – a large number when compared to its population. He added this was why Malta was insisting on solidarity and action by the EU and its member states.

“This is a positive act of solidarity on Interpol’s part, as your voice has due weight in the international arena, and I too acknowledge that you too are supporting us on the issue of migration,” he said.