Malta is not aware of any “secret” agreement signed recently between Italy and Libya on the control of migration and has not been informed of any such agreement either by the Libyan National Transition Council (LNTC) or by Italy.
According to revelations by Amnesty International’s (AI) European Office in Brussels, Italy and the LNTC signed a new agreement last April to control the flow of irregular migration to Italy.
According to Amnesty, this agreement permits Italian authorities to intercept boatloads of irregular migrants at sea and push them back to Libya, where they will be handed over to Libyan authorities.
The organisation argues the agreement violates Italy’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and does not give irregular migrants the right to apply for asylum under international rules.
Asked whether Malta was aware of this agreement, in view of the island’s geographical and political proximity with both countries and its interest in irregular migration, a government spokesman said it was not.
Pressed to state whether the island would be seeking clarifications, the spokesman said: “If such agreement does exist, it is bilateral in nature, thereby involving the two signatory countries.
“Therefore, Malta would not be specifically raising this agreement with either the LNTC or the Italian authorities.
“Notwithstanding this, Malta will continue promoting cooperation, within the context of its international obligations and respect for human rights, with both countries.”
Despite Malta’s apparent reluctance to delve deeper into the issue, a similar agreement between Italy and Gaddafi’s Libya in 2008 largely stemmed the flow of irregular migrants to the island, though it was harshly criticised by human rights activists and NGOs.
The 2008 Italo-Libyan “Treaty of Friendship” included a $5 billion grant to Libya for infrastructural projects and six patrol boats for joint patrols against irregular migration in Libya’s territorial waters.
When the joint patrols eventually started in 2009, the flows of irregular migrants to Malta and Lampedusa almost completely stopped.
According to Amnesty, the situation of irregular migrants in Libya has deteriorated further since the collapse of the regime.
It is estimated that a thousand irregular immigrants are passing through Libya’s desert borders every day, with almost no hindrance from security forces.
Since the country is almost in total chaos and armed militia groups control parts of its territory, irregular immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa are getting increasingly eager to escape towards Europe.
Over the past few weeks, several boats carrying irregular migrants have arrived in Malta from Libya.
The island has no re-admission agreement with Tripoli, even though it has been discussing more cooperation with Libya in this area for a number of years.