The outcome of the visit to Malta by EU Freedom, Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini is encouraging, but declarations of “wheels being set in motion to tackle irregular immigration” need to be backed up with solid action.

The non-EU protagonist in this issue is most certainly Libya. But one must put things into perspective. Libya has long been accused of allowing all and sundry to pass through international borders and into the country. However, when they explained the problem, it became quite clear that Libya is also a victim. One only needs to look at Libya on a map to see that the borders are huge, much of them covering desert, and a very, very easy crossing point for illegal immigrants (and equally, very difficult to police).

These immigrants then congregate at shanty towns on the Libyan coast before they eventually get into their little boat to head for Europe.

Of course, Libya needs to up its security in its coastal areas, but with cooperation from all concerned, the situation can be improved. Let us not kid ourselves however. This problem is not going to simply evaporate, but it can get better.

One point touched upon by Mr Frattini – which is fundamentally important – is the 24-7 line of communication between the countries involved. For this to work, there must be solid and steadfast cooperation from Libya in the sense that Libya should maintain the communications channel at all times, irrespective of times of the year or whether it is a holiday. The same, of course, holds true for other countries involved, mainly, of course, Malta and Italy. If this constant exchange of information is not maintained, then there will be nothing else to build on and the situation will remain status quo.

Of course, once the Libyan-EU joint committee on irregular immigration is set up, proposals might actually turn into solutions to the problems with which we are living today.

Mr Frattini also said that two financial programmes are also to be implemented soon, allocating some e21 million specifically to tackle the problem. This is also very heartening news. Malta has very limited resources when it comes to military assets (which we only ever use for search and rescue purposes).

If some of this money was allocated to boost the scant resources we have, then we can have a more effective monitoring and recovery team – perhaps even boosting AFM employment. Surely some of the money could also be used to specifically train our soldiers for these roles, perhaps even bolstering the army’s ranks.

Mr Frattini said he had had a very hard time, as did Malta and Italy, in convincing the rest of Europe of the seriousness of the situation. At least, in the end, they have understood. And this is where burden-sharing should come in. Sadly, it seems that other European leaders have preferred to ignore the problem – the reason being that it did not affect them.

But it does affect them. Immigrants do not stay in Malta, they head for mainland Europe, so it is in fact a European problem. Put plain and simply, this is a problem that not even powerhouses such as the UK, Italy or Germany could deal with alone, let alone this tiny rock in the middle of the sea. Solidarity is one of the EU’s cornerstones.

Burden-sharing is the same as solidarity. Maybe if we put that argument forward, we might get even more people to see our point of view.