Valletta will today be hosting the Summit on Migration which is set to bring EU leaders to the country to discuss the growing problem with African nations.

The crux of the summit is to tackle the issue at source – in other words, Africa and other war torn countries that asylum seekers are trying to escape from. Speaking before addressing parliament last night, European Parliament President Martin Shultz said that this summit will not be the be-all and end-all of migration issues. He is, of course, correct. Humans have migrated throughout history, from the first days when we stood on two feet and walked to Africa. The great migrations of humans took place for various reasons and in different waves, we set off to colonise the Far East, the Americas and, of course, Europe.

The reasons were much the same as they are now, hunger, danger, climate change, and above all else, the most human trait of all; the search for a better life.

But back to the matter at hand. Most of European Union member sates’ heads of government will be here tomorrow. And while discussion on the matter is always helpful and welcome, a common approach needs to be taken. Just as the EU had common policies in the past, the end-game goal here would be to find a common position and adopt it, and implement it. Having individual nations constructing razor wire fences on a whim is not the way to go.

Just as Foreign Minister George Vella says in an interview published in this edition, the EU now needs to move towards concrete action. We have been debating this phenomenon for the past decade and inaction by the European Union has seen the problem exacerbate and grow to its present state.

There is no doubt that the EU needs to agree on a number of issues which must be implemented. Perhaps the most important of the lot would be agreeing on setting up formal channels for legal migration into Europe. Our continent does need young people to bolster our workforce. The EU also needs to agree on a system whereby refugees can be process and distributed accordingly. On a Commission level, the EU also needs to create the structures and funds which are necessary to integrate arriving asylum seekers and provide them with language lessons, training, a stipend and, of course, accommodation when they get into Europe.

Throwing money at the problem will not suffice. The EU needs a well defined and managed system where asylum seekers are fully documented, processed and integrated into the system. The EU also needs to agree to expand the Frontex Mission in the Mediterranean. With the winter months fast approaching, the weather is bound to get worse and the number of crossings may spike when it is fair. The EU says that its focus is on saving lives. This is true. But apart from saving lives, we must also, as we said at the start, tackle the problem at its root cause. If we were to make a true examination of conscience, we would find that Europe, or at least our forebears, were one of the main reasons why Africa and the Middle East are in the situation they are in today.