A year ago, on 3 and 11 October, two migrant shipwrecks off the nearby island of Lampedusa claimed the lives of some 500 would-be asylum seekers. In the wake of that double tragedy, there was a new hope that those deaths would not have been in vain. It was hoped that that double tragedy was just the wakeup call that Europe and the world needed to stem the greatest humanitarian challenge to engulf the Mediterranean since WWII.

Pope Francis had visited the island just months before and deplored the globalisation of indifference, and after the Lampedusa tragedies Italy responded in excellent fashion by deploying its Mare Nostrum operation that saved the lives of well over 100,000 people. Malta lent a very able hand in many of those rescues, and rightly so considering those tragedies occurred right on Malta's doorstep.  The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a private initiative by an American millionaire, was also launched in the direct wake of the Lampedusa double tragedy.

But when it came to political action and action by the European Union, despite the platitudes of 'never again', not much, it must be stressed, has been done to address the situation in any sort of actionable and effective way.

In the meantime, hundreds or even thousands of people have lost their lives to the Mediterranean over the last year.

Tens of thousands of people cross the Mediterranean each year as refugees fleeing conflict and persecution, or as migrants seeking a life with dignity. They know the dangers that await them, but these pale in comparison to the dangers they face at home. They risk the voyage out of sheer desperation, according to survivor accounts.

The majority of those reaching Europe by sea this year have been Syrians, Eritreans, Somalis and Afghans - people from countries where conflict has caused mass displacement and terrible persecution.

It is estimated that over 2,500 people have died in the Mediterranean so far this year, and that close to one in every 50 who attempted to reach the European Union from North Africa has died or disappeared at sea.

These tragedies, which are literally turning the Mediterranean, and in particular Malta's patch of that sea, into an underwater cemetery, are tragedies that can be avoided. Geographically speaking, Malta is right in the middle of all this, and moral Europe has a certain responsibility, like it or not, to do its utmost to provide safe solutions for those people who are trying to reach its shores to seek asylum.

Europe must devise legal routes for a significant number of vulnerable refugees to reach its shores and to make use of their international legal right to seek asylum. 

But the problem is far, far wider than what many in Malta see as a Maltese problem - the relatively small handful of refugees that have made their way to our own shores.

This is a European problem that requires a European, and global solution.

Until last year, the European Union as a whole resettled just a few thousand refugees each year - a number that has been significantly increased by Germany this year, which has provided close to 30,000 places for refugees from Syria.

It is now time that other EU states follow Germany's example. The EU should be resettling tens of thousands of refugees every year, not only from Syria but whatever part of the world that the need is most dire.

In the past year, the Italian Navy has rescued well over 100,000 people, through operation Mare Nostrum. The EU has come up with the Frontex+ mission to take over from Italy's noble Mare Nostrum initiative but funding requirements are not being met by member states.

It is now high time that member states collectively put their money where their mouths are and collectively invest in greater search and rescue capabilities to patrol the Mediterranean and to quickly respond to boats in distress. Italy has taken the lead but this should be a shared responsibility. The EU must collectively continue, and build on, Mare Nostrum.

The EU must also reform its Dublin system, which assigns responsibility for processing asylum claims to the first EU country of entry, by creating a fairer responsibility sharing mechanism that does not burden any single member state and by allowing asylum seekers better freedom of movement within the EU.

Without any such action, last year's Lampedusa tragedies are bound to be repeated and they were, in fact repeated recently when some Middle Eastern 500 migrants lost their lives after their vessel was deliberately rammed by the smugglers who had promised them safe passage to Europe.

The EU must create legal means of entry to the bloc and commit itself to addressing this perpetual humanitarian crisis by saying, once and for all, that "enough is enough" and, more importantly, to translate those words into concrete action.