Human rights should be given priority when thinking about an EU migration policy or activities, a meeting of Socialist heads of state and leaders agreed.

Ahead of the today’s European Council meeting, the heads of State and leaders of the PES family met in Brussels to discuss action that was needed to prevent more migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was present for the meeting.

The leaders expressed condolences to the victims’ families and agreed on advancing concrete proposals to tackle this emergency and prevent future tragedies.

They also discussed the 10-point plan proposed by the European Commission. The fair sharing of responsibilities for the management of the common southern border, the Mediterranean Sea, as well as of reception capacities among all 28 member states, was also discussed.

They agreed that safe and legal systems for migration were important to avoid people in desperate situations from taking incredible risks to reach Europe.

PES President Sergei Stanishev said: “True to our socialist values of solidarity and equality, we recognise our moral and civil responsibility to prevent deaths in the Mediterranean.

"We recognise the weight that countries like Italy and Malta have to carry, and we will not leave them alone in that. We need to do more to combat the smugglers in order to prevent more deaths, for each one is a preventable tragedy for which we must accept some responsibility.”