Although one may agree with some of the arguments by religious groups and refugee protection agencies that Europe somehow has a moral or legal obligation to accommodate large numbers of migrants from deepest Africa and Arabia, the threat of mass economic migration needs an urgent solution.

The Italian mainland and the Italian and Maltese islands cannot be used as some sort of European ‘scrapyard’ where to ‘dump’ these people. This is what central and northern Europeans seem to be expecting southern Europe to become. The vast majority are unskilled economic migrants and there is no way southern Europe can provide employment for them.

What is the difference between living in a refugee camp in southern Europe and a refugee camp in northern Africa?

This is Africa’s and Libya’s problem. Reasonably safe and developing African nations should be offering to take in fellow African economic migrants and refugees and not expect Europe to do it.

Libya is not only incapable of policing its southern border but also prevents Europeans from patrolling its Mediterranean border. The European Union needs to sort out effectivepolicing of Libya’s leaky Mediterranean border and help organise refugee camps and migrant visa facilities in Africa, not in southern Europe.

Migration needs to be controlled and organised. Before we joined the EU, we needed work permits to take up residence in member countries. Migration from Africa and the Middle East should be organised on similar lines.