No one can forget the iconic photograph that circulated around the world last summer, both through email and in the world’s media – that of two tourists lapping up the sun on a beach while a dead body slowly bobbed around a few feet away from them.

That body was of an irregular African migrant who tried to make it to Europe by taking the Western route to Spain by getting to the Canary Islands.

The tourists sat in their loungers looking unperturbed by the sight in front of them; it truly was a stark reminder of the problem Europe faces with irregular migration and the seeming indifference to it by our citizens.

Recently, Malta was hit by the news of three bodies of immigrants found floating close to our shores. Presumably, three migrants lost their life in one of the rickety boats in which they make their crossings.

But we also know that these people never come in threes. They come in much larger numbers, so one can probably surmise that they were part of a greater number of people that the sea claimed. It might be weeks or months till the other bodies are found, and they might even be washed up on far flung shores, but it shows the yearly migration exodus is already in motion.

The news that the EU’s Frontex patrols are to resume will prove to be a boost in deterring immigrants from trying to reach Europe from Central North Africa, but undoubtedly, some will slip through the proverbial net.

In fact, rumours are already surfacing which indicate that the migration flow is well and truly gaining momentum as it does every year. What we will ask, however, is what the government has done to boost the asylum application process and how much accommodation has been increased to cater for the new arrivals this year.

It is useless ignoring this fact – we will get migrants this year, and they will come in their many hundreds; it has happened year after year and they will continue to do so. Home Affairs Minister and Social Policy ministers Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and John Dalli respectively will have their hands full this summer, as will the experienced head of new Foreign Minister Tonio Borg. He, in particular, must continue where his predecessor Michael Frendo left off in pushing Malta’s case forward for burden sharing across Europe. We have seen some small results in this regard and France’s cautious support of Malta’s proposals can be seen as encouraging.

But Dr Borg must continue to beat the drum. Malta cannot possibly cope with this problem alone. There must be more commitment in terms of sharing the burden, training people to deal with migrants, patrolling, asylum process as well as formulating measures that tackle the root of the problem which lies in Africa.

This year, Africa is more unstable than ever with conflicts all over the place in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and other countries. This will only lead to more migration. Experience has taught us that however well we prepare, it is never enough. Perhaps we should take US motivational speaker Denis Waitley’s well-know quote as a guide: “Expect the best, plan for the worst and be prepared to be surprised”.