With reports that a million migrants are waiting on the North African coast to cross over into Europe, it is essential that Malta is fully prepared to cope with an influx on an unprecedented scale.

The last time the need for such a contingency arose was in early 2011 when the civil war in Libya had broken out and thousands of people were fleeing the North African country. The situation today is equally alarming with the Italian government under pressure from voters increasingly against receiving ever-greater numbers of migrants rescued in the central Mediterranean. What would happen if, in the weeks ahead, the Italian government were to refuse access to EU rescue vessels or charity boats to offload migrants in their ports?

In 2011, then home affairs minister, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, had instructed officials to draw up a contingency plan to cope with the possible arrival in Malta of up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants from Libya. The Gonzi Cabinet had endorsed the plan.

Any contingency plan drawn up six years ago will, however, inevitably require substantial updating. Such a plan will need to examine in detail the accommodation, manpower and logistic support implications of housing such a big number of migrants in Malta over a not inconsiderable period of time.

The choice of emergency accommodation to house 10,000 migrants will be the major challenge and the crux of whether the plan will succeed in practice or not. The criteria for selecting sites should consist of locations that are large enough and on solid ground or hard-standing and, ideally, be within the control of the police, the Armed Forces of Malta or some other government entity.

Such sites should already be built or capable of rapid conversion to viable accommodation. They need to be as far from dense habitation as possible and capable of having water, electricity and drainage services installed quickly.

There are not many places that fit these criteria. Malta Shipbuilding formed the main basis of the original plan but may no longer be available. After taking account of about 2,000 migrants who could immediately go into existing migrant centres, accommodation and logistic support to handle a few more thousand people would still be needed. Tented accommodation may almost certainly have to be resorted to.

As to the provision of personnel to cope with an emergency on such a scale and duration, the two main forces to deal with the response – the police and the AFM – will, no doubt, find themselves under huge pressure and many of their routine duties could well have to be suspended as they cope with the emergency.

The support of voluntary organisations, such as the Malta Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance Brigade, will be required and, indeed, should be included in any detailed contingency planning.

The operation will need detailed logistical planning and close operational supervision to set priorities of work to implement the necessary preparations in a phased and coordinated manner. An individual – supported by a small planning cell, consisting of representatives of the main departments concerned – should specifically be tasked by the government now to draw up such a contingency plan and to lead the task force with the necessary authority.

Time is short. Contingency planning needs to be urgently started.