Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said while addressing Parliament on Monday that he will not accept that Malta becomes "the new Lampedusa" and a target for human traffickers to aim for due to any sort of system that designates Malta as a centre for migrants.

Muscat said that the decisions taken in the SeaWatch and SeaEye cases were in part so to send a signal to other countries, but also to send a similar signal to those leading the trafficking.

The Prime Minister was replying to a question posed by the PN's spokesperson for EU affairs David Stellini, after Stellini asked whether Malta agreed with a concept calling for Control Centres and Disembarkation Centres published by the European Commission last July, a concept which would see the establishment of 'controlled centres' in the EU.

The primary aim of such centres, according to the European Commission, would be to improve the process of distinguishing between individuals in need of international protection, and irregular migrants with no right to remain in the EU, while speeding up returns.  The centres would be managed by the host Member State with full support from the EU and EU Agencies and could have a temporary or ad-hoc nature depending on the location, the Commission said in its initial press release. 

In addition to the establishment of controlled centres, the Commission also sought to explore the concept of regional disembarkation arrangements in close cooperation with IOM and UNHCR and in partnership with third countries.  The objective of regional disembarkation arrangements is, the Commission said, to provide quick and safe disembarkation on both sides of the Mediterranean of rescued people in line with international law, including the principle of non-refuelement, and a responsible post-disembarkation process.

During the first parliamentary session of the New Year, Muscat rose to give a ministerial statement with regards to the migratory situation which dominated the holiday period, wherein 49 migrants spread across two NGO boats were left stranded without a port of safety for almost three weeks.  The migrants were eventually allowed into Malta after the AFM transferred them off the NGO vessels, and after a nine country agreement was reached for the redistribution of all of them, along with the redistribution of 249 migrants which Maltese armed forces had rescued over the New Year. 

The 49 migrants were transferred by the AFM and brought into Malta on 9 January

Those nine countries are Germany, France, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy - whilst Slovenia also joined the agreement a day later.  Muscat said that all the countries had given their assurances in writing.  He reserved special praise for Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, and commented that despite the contrary impression that may be given from time to time due to certain "elements" of the Italian governments - the relationship between Malta and Italy remained a strong one. 

In all, the 49 migrants on the two NGO vessels will be redistributed to these countries, whilst they will also take another 171 migrants of the group rescued by the AFM.  Of the groups that were rescued by the AFM, 44 were found to be from Bangladesh and will be deported back to their country, Muscat said.

Turning onto the subject of NGOs, Muscat said that he had absolutely no problem with the work of NGOs in rescuing people and in complementing the work of armed forces, as long as they followed all international rules and guidelines.  He noted that situations such as the one that had just been solved rose because some NGOs enter into a "race" with the Libyan coastguard to get to boats first.

He also commented on recent screenshots of the position of certain NGO boats, saying that while the conclusion that NGOs were working hand-in-hand with smugglers was a "conspiracy theory" that he absolutely did not agree with, NGO boats showing their co-ordinates simply present themselves as a target for human traffickers.  "This is an uncomfortable truth", Muscat said, and this is why the government is critical of some NGOs and has called for a system of governance for them.  However he reiterated; "if everyone follows the rules, we have no problem with the NGOs".

The Sea-Watch 3 was one of two NGO vessels which found itself in the middle of the latest Mediterranean stand-off with regards to migration.

Muscat said that he appreciated the attitude of the Opposition when it came to handling this case, whilst Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said that he appreciated the continuous updates on the situation that he had been provided with from the government.  Delia, whilst commending the work that NGOs have done in saving over 14,000 lives in the Mediterranean, also agreed with the need for more clarity on how they operate.

He also asked the Prime Minister as to the subject matter of the government's discussions with Libya's Prime Minister Fajez Al-Sarraj, to which Muscat said that in the two-hour meeting various topics had been discussed, with migration included.

Muscat reiterated news that Air Malta was working to re-introduce flights from Malta to Tripoli, whilst he said that it was not a matter of if, but a matter of when the Maltese embassy in Tripoli would re-open. 

The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday reported that there was only a mere formality left for Carmelo Saliba to take up residency in Tripoli as Malta's Ambassador to Libya.