Images of dead children washed up on beaches changed the European attitude towards refugees, but for countries like Malta this was no new phenomenon, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said.

Federica Mogherini stressed that the refugee crisis was, first of all, a regional catastrophe that did not start with recent flows making the headlines. She appealed for unity and responsibility sharing.

“We can do more… People are ready to face the risk of dying with their children. The idea that this can be stopped with a wall or a fence is an illusion,” she said.

There was a great deal of criticism of the failure of European home affairs ministers to reach an agreement to relocate 120,000 refugees the day before. Ms Mogherini said some ministers were still thinking in national terms and this was a threat to European unity.

“If we want to act and be perceived as a union we have to understand that our internal and external problems are one. Our unity, or lack of it, has an impact on our credibility and the effectiveness of our actions,” she said. The message of unity was also stressed by the European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, and Nationalist Party MEP Roberta Metsola.

We can do more… People are ready to face the risk of dying with their children

Ms Mogherini appealed for the problem to be put into perspective, saying the number of refugees represented 0.1 per cent of Europe’s population, while the number of refugees Lebanon was hosting amounted to 25 per cent of the country’s population.

Also taking part in the debate at the European Parliament were MPs from Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, which are all hosting a large number of refugees. They said Europe seemed insensitive to the problem and appealed for help.

“When we see these people on the brink of despair we have to help them. This is the consequence of war. We have offered them protection; we have not failed our responsibilities,” said Lebanon’s Michel Moussa, chairman of the human rights subcommittee.

“It is not too late to save thousands on our doorstep begging for help. I’m counting on you. Please help them,” Teema Kurdi, the aunt of young Aylan Kurdi said. The picture of the Syrian boy, 3, dead on a beach in Turkey made the headlines worldwide, sparking a call for effective action.

Time to show values on which the EU was built – Metsola

The ongoing refugee crisis was a global reality that every State must act upon, Nationalist Party MEP Roberta Metsola said during a European Parliament debate on migration and human rights yesterday.

“I think it is important not to lose sight of what is at stake here. Thousands of people, families, children are fleeing unimaginable horror and are looking for refuge,” Dr Metsola said.

The crisis must be dealt with, she added, rather than be allowed to expose the fragilities of the union and threaten the credibility of the Schengen zone.

“The Europe that I know would not turn its back. This is not a time for walls and fences or political rhetoric. This is a time to show the values upon which Europe was built in action,” Dr Metsola said.

“This is a global reality that every State must act upon. We are all in this together,” she added, insisting on the need for a long-term solution based on a binding, permanent, mechanism for those in need of protection.

Dr Metsola proposed a number of actions to address the crisis, including the drawing up of a list of safe countries to facilitate the examination of asylum claims. She said the EU’s relationship with third countries and countries of origin needed to be examined to address the causes of migration and how to offer a stable future for people there.

“If there is no future in these countries then people will continue to flee irrespective of the risk to their lives and more people will die crossing the desert or in our seas. There is no real alternative,” Dr Metsola said.

The numbers:

• 464,000 asylum seekers have crossed the Mediterranean and 3,840 drowned this year.

• A record 156,000 migrants entered the EU in August, taking the total for the year to more than 500,000.

• In contrast, 280,000 asylum seekers crossed EU borders in 2014.

Yet another failure to respond to global refugee crisis – Amnesty

EU representatives have again dismally failed to show collective leadership and respond to the global refugee crisis, Amnesty International said.

At an emergency meeting on Monday, European home affairs ministers failed to reach agreement on proposals to relocate a further 120,000 people, putting off the decision to a council meeting in October.

“The measures on the table were piecemeal at best and a far cry from a comprehensive EU response to a global refugee crisis, and ministers could not even agree on these,” said Iverna McGowan, acting director at Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

Amnesty said the gravity of the situation in frontline countries could best be prevented by access to the wider EU through safe and legal routes and the mutual recognition of refugee status.

‘Internal considerations’

Kim Dalli

EU members’ reluctance to agree on relocating 120,000 migrants from frontline countries was down to internal political considerations, with some leaders facing elections, according to Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela.

Mr Abela was speaking about the outcome of the European home affairs ministers’ meeting Monday, which ended with a deadlock on sharing responsibility for sheltering thousands of asylum seekers.

Migratory routes have now shifted from the central Mediterranean towards the east, via Turkey, with the deteriorating state of refugee camps leaving asylum seekers no choice but to enter Europe in search of basic needs such as food.

An earlier plan to relocate 40,000 people from Italy and Greece across EU member states was officially endorsed. However, eastern European states blocked efforts by Germany and France to secure agreement for a proposal to relocate 120,000 migrants from Italy, Greece and Hungary.

The decision was postponed to a meeting scheduled for October 8.

Asked about the likelihood of the proposal being ac-cepted, Mr Abela said some countries wanted to ensure an agreement would be a voluntary one.

Germany’s decision to re-impose border controls was a temporary one enabled by Schengen rules, he said.

However, he expressed concern with Hungary’s decision to shut the main land route for migrants into the EU by installing a new razor-wire fence.

“This makes me very concerned. We speak of inclusion and solidarity but such actions cannot be framed in such a context. When offered help, I won’t say they refused it but they should be the ones convincing reluctant countries to change their position,” Mr Abela said.

He questioned the EU’s poor communication with the Syrian authorities, adding that this was not tenable. EU countries had finally realised that the Dublin procedures, whereby the first EU country migrants entered was the one responsible for processing their asylum claim, were outdated and had to be revisited.

The setting up of a trust fund was also proposed to help the regions migrants were fleeing from.

Malta has so far pledged to take 60 migrants over two years as part of the EU relocation plan and another 14 out of 22,000 migrants in third countries as part of a resettlement plan.

So far this year, only 93 migrants arriving by boat were given shelter in Malta, as opposed to over 70,000 welcomed by Italy.

Mr Abela confirmed that Malta and Italy had informally taken “a mature political decision” to collaborate in view of Malta’s size and limited resources. The collaboration could end with a change in Italy’s government.

“In the past, Malta and Italy used to argue out at sea over whether migrants should disembark in Malta or in Sicily.

“Each boat has over 400 people on it. We have converted barracks and schools into open centres and set up tents and containers to offer shelter to the migrants. It makes sense for a small country such as Malta to have this arrangement,” Mr Abela said.

When asked why Malta had been willing to grant 74,000 visas to Libyans over two years but was then reluctant to grant asylum to refugees, Mr Abela said most of the visas granted were temporary ones for business or education reasons. Libya had strong economic ties with Malta and, following the North African country’s destabilisation, many companies relocated to Malta.

Visas were granted to company directors, employees and their families for business meetings. Some entered Malta legally through this channel and went on to request asylum.

“One must look at the reasons why [the visas] were granted rather than [just look at the] numbers,” Mr Abela said.