Over the weekend, a total of 370 migrants were saved by the Armed Forces of Malta in a Frontex Titan operation. They were taken to Sicily for processing.

2015, so far, has seen the lowest number of migrant arrivals by boat in Malta in many years. That is mostly due to the increased Search and Rescue operations that have been put into place by the European Union following the repeated catastrophes which saw thousands perish at sea.

But while the fall in numbers is positive, it can also lead to an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality. Make no mistake. People are still getting into rickety boats and barely floating dinghies with one last chance at making it to Europe.

Thanks to the ongoing operations, many more lives have been saved. But many have still been lost. Because the operation  is now a multi-national one, we barely hear of the number of people who are rescued.

But this weekend was a timely reminder. Following the setting up of the Triton Operation, the Continental media’s attention has now shifted to mainland Europe, particularly France and Germany.

The former sees flashpoints in Calais, where migrants try to stow away on lorries or even hijack them. Some might have passed through Malta, as many of them are sub Saharan Africans. Germany, on the other hand, has admitted to struggling with the number of Syrians who are pouring over its border. Hungary has also attracted attention with its proposal to build a border fence.

This can go either one of two ways. The first is that the EU might finally start waking up to the fact that this is a problem which needs a holistic approach and that a proper policy is finally drawn up in terms of managing the phenomenon.

We heard murmurings of a potential legal corridor through Africa, whereby asylum seekers can apply in Africa for a place in Europe, however, there has been no commitment and even if implemented, will certainly not stem the flow.

The second course of action is the nationalistic approach, whereby EU states might decide to go back to policing their own borders and letting everyone fend for themselves. This, of course, would be disastrous on a grand scale, and especially for Malta.

The issues will not stop unless there is stability in Africa, but it is clear that this will take decades, if not hundreds of years to bring to equality. Given that the situation in Syria is not improving very quickly, we can also expect more and more refugees from that part of the world. It is now the height of summer and very soon boats will be pushed into the sea on a scale that we have not yet witnessed. Even with the extended Triton Operation, we might find ourselves overwhelmed. The EU has implemented the emergency relocation system, but will that be enough in the months of August and September? Time will tell.