If last week’s tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa served as a wakeup call for Europe and the international community to begin implementing real, durable solutions for those who need to seek asylum in Europe, Friday’s tragedy could easily be considered as a second.

If last week’s tragedy was practically in Malta’s backyard, Friday’s tragedy hit very close to home – so close that Malta assumed responsibility for the rescue operation. Let us hope that this is the last wakeup call that is needed before real solutions begin, at long last, to be adopted.

This time there was no bickering between Malta and Italy as to where those who were rescued should be taken – the nearest port of call, Lampedusa, or to the country responsible for the operation according to Search and Rescue area parameters, Malta.  Malta brought home those that its forces rescued, and Italy did likewise.

That shows an immense sign of maturity that was sadly lacking in past incidents, albeit incidents in which lives were not at serious and immediate risk.

And the fact that the majority of those rescued were brought to Malta evidences the Armed Forces of Malta’s valour, humanitarianism, competence and quick reaction time. A huge national, and international, round of applause is due to those who took part in the operation.

Another sign of maturity was in our Prime Minister’s reaction on Friday night while the maritime squadron was in the midst of what was an extremely difficult mission, difficult undoubtedly on an emotional as well as a physical level.

This time there were no threats, no claims of being unable to look after and accommodate these poor traumatised souls. In fact, on Friday, the Prime Minister showed what he must show in such situations – humanitarianism. The Prime Minister is finally talking sense in migration. This is the way to get European consensus, not by threatening the wellbeing of innocents, but by saving lives and showing compassion. 

The need for consensus is now more than obvious in the wake of this double tragedy and foot stamping would clearly not have yielded any satisfactory results.  Such an approach, in fact, would have served only to ostracise Malta instead of winning the country the kudos and respect it has received for its efforts.

The government also took the extremely positive step of, for the first time ever and on the basis of the trauma they have experienced, deciding to house these newly arrived migrants in an open centre rather than throwing them straight into detention.

We have often spoken of this government insensitivity to the plight of irregular migrants as evidenced by its approach to other incidents. But seeing how it is clearly applying every sensitivity it can in this very sensitive situation, we cannot do the same today.

On Friday, Dr Muscat said that legal routes needed to be sought for migrants to arrive safely to their preferred European destination. He could not be more to the point.

The UNHCR yesterday listed out a set of 10 urgent recommendations to help address the situation.  Among them was the recommendation that those found in need of international protection should be given access to a durable solution, “which could include mechanisms for an equitable distribution/relocation of those recognised as refugees or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection within the European Union or evacuation to a designated Evacuation Transit Centre based on existing models from where resettlement efforts could be undertaken both to European countries and non-European countries”.

This hit the nail right on the head. Back in 2009, there had been some very promising talk about the establishment of a UNCHR frontline office in Libya, which would effectively assess asylum seekers’ claims before they set sail on the perilous Mediterranean crossing. Under the plan, those who would have their asylum requests approved would be distributed by the UNHCR evenly across Europe, instead of risking the perilous Mediterranean crossings, while failed asylum seekers could be repatriated to their countries of origin straight from Libya.

Libya is merely a case in point and this suggestion could be implemented across North Africa and, in the process, give those seeking refuge and protection in Europe another means of getting that protection without having to risk their lives crossing this notorious stretch of the Mediterranean to do so.

There are several other similar options on the table but all that has been lacking is the political will to push them through and it is hoped that this second tragedy in as many weeks is the last wakeup call needed to finally begin reaching tangible solutions to this long-running humanitarian crisis.