Immigration was something "fluid" that could resume at any time despite the almost six-month lull in boat arrivals, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said yesterday.
His comments came just hours after around 60 migrants in a dinghy were rescued off Lampedusa. Italian media reported that two men could have died on board and the now usual dispute between Malta and Italy ensued over where to take the rescued migrants. They were eventually taken to Lampedusa.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the incident could be a signal that immigration was about to restart.
"But it could also be just a one-off. With immigration you never know what is going to happen next," he said in a cautious tone.
Even the current dispute between Libya and Switzerland could exacerbate the immigration problem, he said.
He was speaking at a press conference in which he outlined the work his ministry carried out in the past two years.
One of the most important achievements was the setting up of the EU asylum support office which would regulate the processing of asylum applications from Malta.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici boasted of a number of amendments to the criminal code undertaken by his ministry.
He announced that a legal notice would be published today outlining new fireworks regulations.
"We cannot exclude fireworks from our culture but we can place more controls to make it safer," he said, outlining the regulations.
A draft bill aimed at regulating the profession of security guards will also be published today outlining the parameters in which bouncers may work.
The law will create two new crimes, that of attacking a bouncer on duty and the use of excessive force by bouncers.
"We do not want the law of the jungle to prevail. A bouncer's job is to ensure peace and order, but he cannot take the law into his own hands. He needs to call the police as soon as possible," he said.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici praised the police and the judiciary for ensuring more prison sentences were handed down and sending a record number of people to prison. He said this was part of the reason why the crime rate had decreased considerably.
He also praised the judiciary for being more efficient and drastically reducing the length of court cases.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici announced that by the end of July he was expecting the law on restorative justice and parole to be presented to Parliament, while in the coming days the Whistleblower Act would be presented to Cabinet.
He said the ministry would ensure the introduction of "moral damages" in cases of disability caused by traffic accidents.
The government would also create a register of serious offenders, which would not be restricted to paedophiles and would only be available to certain institutions under strict regulations.
Asked whether the code of ethics for the judiciary should become legally-binding in light of recent accusations of misconduct, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said his role was not to police the judiciary and he would leave that up to the Commission for the Administration of Justice to decide in full liberty and tranquillity.