Joseph Muscat has urged the EU to fully back Italy’s Mare Nostrum rescue mission before the migrants’ situation in the Mediterranean Sea spirals out of control.
“Last year we used to see two to three daily boat crossings. Today we are sometimes seeing over 20 boats a day, even with 200 to 400 people on board. This is posing an immediate humanitarian and logistical problem,” the Prime Minister told The Sunday Times of Malta.
Italy is soaking up almost all of the migrants attempting the crossing, to the extent that many are now being taken to the mainland instead of Lampedusa or Sicily.
We could have more landings in a day than an entire year
Meanwhile, Malta’s Armed Forces is dedicating most of its rescue vessels to help with the coordination, Dr Muscat said.
The number who have reached Italy this year has already topped more than 40,000, equivalent to the whole of 2013. Surprisingly, less than 200 migrants have landed in Malta this year. But Dr Muscat warned the numbers could shoot up overnight. “The second something in the Mare Nostrum system is broken, it will change overnight. We could have more landings in a day than an entire year.”
Italy launched its Mare Nostrum patrol operations to prevent more tragedies after two shipwrecks in October. But the operation is believed to have also contributed to unprecedented numbers attempting to cross from Libya to Europe, as chaos has gripped Libya, giving free rein to criminal gangs organising boat trips.
He insisted that one or two member states cannot be expected to patrol the southern European border alone.
Malta will therefore team up with key southern allies in a united front at the upcoming European Council meeting to exert pressure for new “clear EU migration guidelines”. With Italy taking over the helm of the EU presidency next month, Dr Muscat said he expected some improvement on the ground.
He said southern EU countries had been “abandoned” by northern member states in their fight to tackle African boat migration.
“Northern European states feel that problems in the Mediterranean and the Middle East are not their problem. Their analysis is incorrect because ultimately many of these migrants will end up in their countries,” he said.
Dr Muscat called for international intervention in volatile Libya, ideally backed by the UN or the Arab League, to stop the country reeling into chaos. Asked whether he would contemplate pushing back migrants to Libya should the situation remain unchanged, he replied: “everything’s still on the cards”.
However, he stressed he would abide by international regulations. “I think what we did last year forced certain people to open their eyes.”
Meanwhile, the Italian Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano, yesterday told a meeting of mayors in Catania he is ready to suspend Mare Nostrum. “Either Europe takes up the [immigration] problem or my proposal will be not to continue,” he said.