Directly or not, the Islamic State struck against Malta on Tuesday, with its heinous attack on the Tripoli Corinthia. This was an attack on one of the country’s largest private sector foreign investments and it has given Malta its first bitter, albeit small, taste of the viciousness that this organisation is capable of.

After this week’s attack, the threat of terrorism is getting a little too close to comfort.

Such a high profile strike was not, however, completely unexpected given the Islamic State’s growing presence in the Maghreb and in Libya in particular. But the real fear is that at some point down the road, we may be saying the exact same thing about an attack on Malta or an attack on Europe by terrorists who used Malta as a staging post.

Over the last week, we have had exponents of the Italian and Libyan governments both warning of the threat that the Islamic State poses to Europe. Both have also said that IS militants could very well seek passage to Europe inconspicuously on boats carrying legitimate asylum seekers.

Last week, at the anti-IS coalition meeting in London, Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni warned that it would be a grave error for any country to ignore the possibility that Islamic militants are hiding within the boatloads of migrants heading for Europe’s shores. That was followed on Friday by comments

from former Libyan Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni, who now serves as President of the Constituent Assembly of Libya. He warned that Europe is seriously underestimating the possibility that militants could infiltrate Malta or Italy, or infiltrate Europe through Malta and Italy, and that the risks of such an eventuality coming to pass are increasing at a dramatic rate.

Now that the Italians and Libyans have expressed their concern, it is about time that our own government – the government geographically caught in between these two countries – makes its own thoughts on the situation clear.

At the time of writing, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat – who on Tuesday discussed the Libya-migration-terrorism dynamic with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – was set to update Parliament on the situation in the evening.

But even more concerning, just yesterday the Libyan media reported a statement purportedly by the Islamic State, which was quoted as saying: Libya has a long coast facing southern Europe, which can be reached by modest boats.

Citing frequent trips of around 500 people a day, the statement was reported to have added, “Many of them [extremists disguised as asylum seekers] can bypass maritime security and reach the heart of [European] cities. If we are able to exploit this channel and develop it strategically as we should, the situation in the countries of southern Europe will be transformed into an inferno”.

These three warnings, coupled with this week’s attack on a Maltese hotel in Libya, an attack claimed by the Islamic State, show that there is indeed a very clear and present danger to Malta – just 350 kilometres north of Tripoli as the crow flies, and the closest EU member state to Libya, where the Islamic State is apparently planting its roots deeper and deeper. And this is not a question of Malta reneging on its international obligations to accept migrants claiming asylum in this country, as many of a more racist mindset have advocated recently. The threat of terrorism should under no circumstances be confused with the migration phenomenon. Sacrificing the upholding of human rights over terrorism fears would, in a sense, mean that the terrorists have won.

As such, suggesting any suspension of Malta’s rescue operations at sea or going back to a ‘push-back’ mentality, would not only be a grave political mistake but also a serious moral error in judgement. What is required at the very least is increased security at Maltese ports of entry and a new and improved vetting process for the migrants making their way to, and seeking asylum on, Maltese shores.