After knocking on the European Union’s door for over a year, Malta and other south Mediterranean countries may soon start receiving much-needed help to deal with the increased influx of irregular immigrants.

Earlier this week, a report on Reuters quoted a European Commission official as saying that “rapid intervention teams” could be created and dispatched to areas that have to deal with the sudden arrival of irregular immigrants or asylum-seekers. According to this report, it is expected that this matter will be discussed this morning by the EU’s justice and home affairs ministers.

With around 1,800 irregular immigrants arriving in Malta last year alone, the country’s resources have been stretched to the limit. The incidents at Safi Barracks in January last year, and the subsequent magisterial report published last month, highlighted the difficulties Malta is facing.

Mr Justice Depasquale’s findings make it clear that the incidents were in no way tied to animosity between the army and the detainees. The immigrants had protested because they wanted to be released and to remain on the island. Who can really blame them? No one fancies the idea of being cooped up in a barracks while his or her “file” is processed, with no timeframe as to when something will be done.

On the other hand, you cannot blame the authorities either. Faced with such a huge number of irregular immigrants, with few facilities to house them, you cannot expect miracles. Our security forces and uniformed personnel are not all trained to deal with these people – a soldier is a soldier, not a psychologist. Mr Justice Despasquale recommended that personnel looking over irregular immigrants should receive the necessary training.

Malta’s main problem is that it is a small island. The existing accommodation facilities are what they are and there is little available room to construct new facilities – which is not the way to tackle the problem.

What Malta really needs is direct help when these immigrants arrive on our shores. Reports have suggested that any EU aid will be geared to deal with irregular immigrants within 48 hours of their arrival. The rapid response teams will be mobile pools of interpreters, case-handlers and even psychologists from across the union who will help the local authorities to ascertain the immigrants’ status and their country of origin.

Such a plan, if agreed to by the justice and home affairs ministers, will help the local authorities to assess irregular immigrants’ claims in a short period of time.

The rapid intervention teams have initial backing from the United Nations’ refugee agency, although it stressed that they should not be aimed purely at keeping people out.

According to reports, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini hopes to formalise the plan by the end of January.

At last, the European Union seems to have realised that countries like Malta, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus are highly vulnerable and obvious targets for those seeking a better life on continental Europe. It has also sought to encourage other EU members to absorb some of the immigrants who found their way to Malta. The recent resettlement in Holland of 33 refugees marks a great step forward in the resolution of a problem that has taxed the government and, indeed, the media, for more than a year now.

It is clear that the government’s constant insistence that Malta is a special case that merits special attention has finally hit home. There is a limit to how many irregular immigrants Malta can allow in.

Today, Malta’s Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg has the opportunity to put pressure on his fellow justice ministers to keep their side of the bargain and facilitate the setting up of the proposed rapid intervention teams. After all, not only Malta, but also the rest of the EU stands to benefit.