Malta and Italy have had a very strong relationship over the years, but it is time to take that relationship to another level.
It was very clear from the meeting that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had with his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi, that both Malta and Italy are taking a common approach to tackling irregular immigration.
Italy and Malta are now contending that, with the advent of patrols around the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain, the west African route will become defunct. This will mean that more and more immigrants and their traffickers will chose to go through the central Mediterranean.
This would spell out disaster for both countries. Malta does not have much military capability – we have a few patrol boats and a few aircraft, but apart from those, we have nothing.
Italy, on the other hand, has plenty of military hardware and the expertise to use it. Perhaps if Italy and Malta start the ball rolling, even joint patrols between just the two nations, Europe will have no choice but to follow suit.
The EU has pledged that it will help and is
currently drawing up plans to find a way to help Southern Mediterranean states deal with the problem. But, the problem lies here: the EU, unfortunately, is probably the most bureaucratic entity that exists in the world and one would very much doubt that any concrete plans will be put in place before the start of next summer.
Yet the problem is slapping Malta and Italy in the face right now as we speak. There are literally boat-loads of immigrants arriving every day, and the situation is going to get worse before it gets
better.
August and September will soon be with us, and August in particular is known to be a very bad month for boat people arrivals. The ones Malta gets, of course, are the stragglers, not the mainstream. The bulk of immigrants arrive in Sicily and southern Italy and it seems as if our neighbours have woken up to the fact.
It is heartening to note that, instead of fighting on different fronts for national interests, Malta and Italy are now on the same tack to address a common problem. Of course – as the leaders of both nations said – a holistic approach is needed to find a long-term solution. But if Malta and Italy band together to keep pushing the Libyans to do more to stem the tide – there will be more pressure on them. Libya seems to be reluctant to do more to reduce the number of boat people who leave its shores, but one also has to understand that, apart from having a fairly long coastline, Libya also has thousands of miles of desert borders that cannot be properly patrolled without assistance.
If Malta and Italy do forge a stronger union and adopt the right approach to Libya, then maybe all three countries will be able to hammer out some strategy that will be beneficial to all concerned. But until such an approach can be made, Malta, Italy and any other willing partners must come up with a plan to start taking action now. If any more time is wasted, then it sends the message that the Mediterranean route is not guarded and is an easy option.
Again we would point out that there is a NATO fleet out there, yet still the boat people come. The fleet’s tour of duty will soon be coming to an end. If nothing is in place before they leave – we could be faced with an inundation.