Updated 11.40am - Added ambassador to Rome's comments to BBC
A new operation launched by the EU’s border agency Frontex has fuelled concerns Malta might face an influx of migrants for which it is not adequately prepared, Times of Malta has learnt.
The fears stem from the fact that from now on, Frontex will no longer be obliged to bring rescued migrants to Italy as was the case under the terms of the previous mission, known as Triton.
That mission was launched in 2014. Italy’s obligation to take all migrants came by virtue of the fact that it was the only Member State coordinating the operation.
However, under the terms of reference of the new operation, Themis, launched on Thursday, the obligation will rest on the country coordinating the rescue mission on a case-by-case basis, possibly Malta.
Italian newspapers suggested that migrants would be taken to the “closest port”, but a Frontex spokeswoman pointed out they would continue following international maritime law, which states that they have to be taken to the nearest “place of safety”.
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The Times of Malta yesterday sought a reaction from the government on the implications of this mission and Malta’s preparedness in case of an influx of migrants. By the time of writing no reply had been received from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Speaking to the BBC, Malta's ambassador to Rome Vanessa Frazier said the bigger concern was that the mission would operate further away from the African coastline, and not its disembarkation implications (see below).
Meanwhile, a sense of uncertainty emerged yesterday when this newspaper sought the views of NGOs who work in the field of migration. While expressing a degree of apprehension on the matter, they declined to commit themselves, saying they wanted to have more facts in hand.
However, many of the organisations pointed out that the sharp decline in the number of arrivals by sea in the last few years had resulted in a significant downsizing of the Malta’s infrastructure to cater for such an eventuality.
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“If you go to the centres in Ħal Far and Safi, it is very evident that the whole set-up has been either dismantled or left neglected and most of the staff deployed elsewhere. Moreover, there is no contingency plan despite repeated calls to address such shortcoming,” they said.
The same sources pointed out that in all probability the sharp decline in migrant arrivals was also the result of some sort of secret agreement between Malta and Italy. Yet the two countries have denied the possibility, including reports that Malta agreed to refrain from oil drilling activities in a vast offshore area southeast of Sicily in return for Italy taking the migrants.
The new Frontex mission has featured prominently in the Italian media recently, amid accusations that the Maltese government was not always shoul- dering its responsibilities.
With more than 600,000 migrants having landed on Italian shores in the last four years, a popular backlash is building ahead of a March 4 national election, and the centre-left government is under pressure to show it has the situation in hand.
Italy has repeatedly lamented a lack of EU solidarity in managing immigration.
Spread over one-year, Themis will be re-evaluated every three months and, unlike Triton, will include Italy’s southern Adriatic coast. While the operational area of Triton extended about 30 miles from the Italian coast, Themis vessels typically will not patrol further than 24 miles from it.
While Triton was not a search-and-rescue operation, it assisted in the rescue of 38,000 people since 2014.
Themis vessels, of which there would be more than 10 operating in the summer, would carry out rescues if asked, the Frontex spokeswoman said. She also clarified that no rescued migrants would be taken to non-EU countries, like Libya or Tunisia.
'Concerned about saving lives' - Maltese Ambassador
Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Malta's Ambassador to Rome Vanessa Frazier downplayed concerns about disembarkation repercussions of the new Frontex mission and said the bigger issue was that vessels would now operate further away from where many migrants drowned.
"We really do not think the focus should be on disembarkation," she told The Newsroom. "Our concern is that operational area has moved drastically north. This would mean more lives risked at sea - any operation at sea should have saving lives as its priority," Ms Frazier said.
The ambassador said Malta wanted the mission's operational area to be closer to where migrants making the dangerous sea crossing often found themselves in trouble, adding that any long-term solution to the crisis would require countries to tackle the root causes of migration and provide people with legal paths to entering the EU.
Additional reporting by Reuters