The deterioration of stability in Libya could lead to an upsurge in Libyans seeking asylum in Malta, said local representative of the United Nations Jon Hoisaeter when speaking before the Social Affairs Committee.
Mr Hoisaeter said that Malta had to prepare for a change, whereby migrant departures would not only feature sub Saharan Africans, but Libyans seeking to escape turmoil in their own land.
Mr Hoisaeter said it was regretful that different countries were doing different things about migration and there was no unified approach. His observations came just days after 29 migrants died of hypothermia while trying to reach Italy.
He stressed that Malta has to revise its laws to transpose the Reception Conditions Directive by July. Malta, he said, needed to amend its laws in line with judgement of the European Court of Human Rights.
He acknowledged that Malta had already done a lot to deal with migrants and commended the work done by the AFM, which has rescued 14,000 migrants at sea.
Lives, he said, were continuing to be lost at sea. Some 3,500 people are believed to have died at sea last year, but media fatigue meant this tragedy was not being given enough importance, he said.
The UNHCR, he said, acknowledged security concerns expressed by the government. There were some circumstances which merited detention, but he said that at the same time, detention centres needed to be up to standard.
He said the way the detention centres were set up created a tense environment and an environment that was not conducive to addressing problems and identifying individuals who need special care.
He also noted that it is true that the number of arrivals in Malta was higher than the country could integrate but he said that this process was important and necessary and would benefit Maltese society as well.
Mr Hoisaeter said most migrants did not intend to come to Malta and the refugee community itself was in many cases not focused on the integration process. That was compounded by problems of racism and discrimination.
Turning back to the situation in Libya, he expressed grave concern. The country, he said, was fragmented and close to a failed state scenario. He did not wish to be alarmist, he said, but the UNHCR wished to help the Maltese government in planning for potential future scenarios such as massive movements across the sea as the worsening situation in Libya led to more people leaving that country.
This was something which needed to be high on everyone's agenda and Malta should also be discussing what support it could receive from the EU and what it could plan, with Italy, for example.
"We need to be ready for a potentially difficult year, a potential year of record arrivals in Malta. I am not being alarmist, I am not saying this is necessarily the most likely outcome, but it is something we should discuss now, not in the summer when the focus will be on the immediate response, not planning," he said.