The opposition will be four square behind the government in any action it might take to mitigate the illegal migration problem, Opposition home affairs spokesman Michael Falzon said.

Speaking in Parliament during the budget debate, Dr Falzon said Malta needed to make a bigger effort to, legally and humanely, tackle this problem. It needed to take measures to reduce the number of arrivals and increase the number of repatriations.

Repatriation agreements needed to be reached with the North African countries from where the immigrants left, especially with Libya.

Frontex, the EU border control agency, needed to be given more resources and made more effective.

Malta, he stressed, could not shoulder a heavier burden of illegal migration.

It had to act like other countries in the EU in the best interests of the country and its people without being inhuman.

The opposition recognised that the country had to observe European and international obligations as well as moral ones but a united front had to be presented for Europeans to understand Malta’s unique and particular situation.

It was in this spirit that the opposition had asked the government not to sign the EU treaty on illegal migration. Although this treaty could have been a step forward, it could have also been the right moment for Malta to get a stronger voice and achieve more.

On the prisons, Dr Falzon said that these had become licensed drug dealing quarters. This was a shame especially since this was supposed to be a correctional facility.

It was shameful that an accused man had produced a packet of drugs in front of a magistrate in court and said that he had bought it from prison for €20.