Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta arrived in Malta for talks last night as the two countries continue to make joint diplomatic efforts to secure greater solidarity from the European Union on irre-gular migration.
In recent months Malta and Italy have combined forces to voice frustration at being left to bear the brunt of the influx of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa.
Last month alone the Italian military assisted more than 2,000 asylum seekers on the high seas, of whom half were in imminent danger. In a now famous incident in the same month, Malta rescued 143 migrants in a joint operation with the Italians near Lampedusa, after a boat capsized losing between 50 and 200 others.
Yesterday evening Mr Letta was taken to Vittoriosa, where he visited the Maritime Museum and the Cottonera Waterfront accompanied by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella.
This morning he will meet Dr Muscat at Castille and they will then address a news conference.
The highlight of his short stay was meant to have been a visit to the amphibious assault ship San Marco, from which the Italian military is coordinating the Mare Nostrum mission. However the San Marco was yesterday afternoon involved in an operation which led to the arrest of 16 people in connection with illegal trafficking of people, so the two prime ministers will board the Italian destroyer Luigi Durand de la Penne instead.
Mare Nostrum was launched last month in the wake of two tragedies off the coast of Lampedusa in which hundreds of asylum seekers perished.
In last month’s EU summit Malta and Italy, along with Greece, rallied for support to form a Southern European alliance aimed at tackling the humanitarian crisis. As a result, EU leaders agreed to take an operational decision on the issue by not later than next month, and not by June as originally planned.
While hailing this as an important step, Mr Letta recently said the EU must now translate words into action by strengthening Frontex missions and the Eurosur border surveillance system, adding his country was already doing its fair share.
Apart from going to the rescue of migrants, the Italian authorities are also beefing up surveillance against criminal organisations using large vessels to transport asylum seekers. The migrants are then transferred onto dinghies and boats when in sight of the Sicilian coast.
The Italian Prime Minister is also visiting Malta in preparation for his country’s presidency of the EU in the second half of next year.
Italian navy busts criminal gang
The Italian navy yesterday made 16 arrests during an operation some 500 miles southeast of Sicily’s Capo Passero in which it uncovered a criminal organisation involved in the illegal trafficking of asylum seekers.
The arrests marked the biggest success yet of the operation Mare Nostrum which was launched last month with the dual aim of assisting migrants in distress and increasing surveillance around the Sicilian coast.
A total of 176 Syrian nationals were saved just after being transferred from the ‘mother ship’, a fishing vessel, to a small boat that was taking in water, Italian media reported.
Italian Defence Minister Mario Mauro hailed the success, saying the asylum seekers might have perished were it not for the timely intervention of the Italian navy in rough seas.
Among the group were 11 women, three of who were pregnant, and 19 children. They were expected to reach Catania this morning aboard the amphibious assault ship San Marco.