However abhorrent, from a human rights perspective, one may view Italy’s policy of pushing back migrant boats to Libya, in the process denying migrants the possibility of applying for asylum in Europe, the upside is that the practice is helping to abate the threat of another terrorist attack on European soil.

The United States, Canada, Britain and Japan are continuing to warn, albeit somewhat vaguely, that al-Qaeda is plotting a terrorist attack on European soil. The focus of the warnings has, so far, been on threats emerging from Pakistan, where a group of eight Germans and two Britons were believed to have been preparing a Mumbai-style shooting spree somewhere in Europe.

The wounds left by the London and Madrid terrorist attacks still smart to this day and are permanently etched into not only the British and Spanish, but also into the European collective consciousness.

Within this context of heightened alerts, the international intelligence community is placing increased scrutiny on the movements of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group – a group operating very close to Malta’s backyard and one that could possibly seek to use Malta as a transit point into Europe.

Two French counter-terrorism officials recently described the AQIM as the leading threat to French national security, and France’s national police chief last week said authorities suspect AQIM of plotting a bomb attack on a crowded target. Another French intelligence official cites how at least six AQIM cells in Europe have been dismantled in recent years.

As far back as 2008, Malta’s National Security Service noted how AQIM, “could have serious implications for the Mediterranean and the European Union as the organisation is taking advantage of the extensive network of operatives that could be exported to the European continent.”

Malta has been lauded time and time again as a bridge between Europe and North Africa, in terms of commerce and business development, but warnings have also been made that that bridge could also serve far more sinister purposes.

So much so that the US State Department had, also in 2008, warned of Malta’s potential of serving as a staging post for would-be terrorists seeking clandestine entry into Europe, given the country’s high influx of undocumented irregular migrants, its geographic location between North Africa and Europe, and its status as an EU member.

Those warnings disappeared from subsequent reports, in line with the sharp drop of undocumented migrants reaching Malta’s shores. It is hoped the trend continues – both for the security of Europe as well as in terms of keeping Malta’s refugee numbers at bay.

But Europe must also stiffen its resolve in addressing the multiple root causes of mass migration to its shores, and not only rely on dubious push-back policies and fine words from its institutions.