Two Malta Labour Party MPs yesterday questioned why the Italian authorities managed to broker an agreement with Libya to have jointly-manned patrols of the Libyan coast while Malta has not.

Gavin Gulia and Leo Brincat pointed out that on 31 December, the British newspaper The Guardian published a story about an agreement being reached between the Italian and Libyan government for patrolling the Libyan coastline.

He said that according to the report, the Italian authorities, after years of intensive negotiations, managed to convince the Libyan government to allow Italian patrol vessels, with a joint Italo-Libyan crew, to patrol in Libyan territorial waters. This, of course, with the aim of curbing irregular migration.

These patrols, said MPs, will take place further south to those made by Frontex, and therefore have the potential to be more effective.

The agreement was signed by Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato and his Libyan counterpart Abdel Rahman Shalqam.

Dr Gulia and Mr Brincat said they welcomed the news as any measure taken t reduce the influx of irregular immigrants to Europe would benefit Malta. This, they said, because Malta was hit more directly than other countries, largely due to our country’s small size and high population density.

The two MPs said that Malta would gain from this agreement because a substantial number of boats that leave Libya end up in Malta. They said that the migration problem cannot be solved by Malta alone and the issue needed to be looked at from a bilateral and multilateral angle.

The MLP said it had been reported on various occasions that the Maltese government found difficulties in reaching agreement with their Libyan counterparts. “However, we always believed that agreement was possible and the agreement between Italy and Libya shows.”

The two MPs said that in light of this agreement, they felt it is only right to ask what efforts are being made by the government to increase cooperation with the Libyan authorities. “This has to be looked at in the context of the excellent relations which exist between Libya and Italy in this regard. It is indeed curious to note that the PN government has never managed to reach a similar agreement,” they said.

The MPs also questioned whether the Maltese government had been kept in the loop and had been informed of the ins and outs of the operations that will take place. In addition, they also asked whether there was a possibility that Malta could take part in the programme.

In reply, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said it had also welcomed the agreement reached between Italy and Libya.

Through the accord, Italy had lent Libya six patrol boats to be run by a crew made up of Libyan officers and Italian police.

The ministry had sent a note verbal in whic it congratulated the two countries on their agrement. Malta said that since it is not in a position to lend patrol boats, it reaffirmed its offer to take part in common patrol exercises with both Libya and Italy.