As reported by this newspaper last week, EU leaders are set to meet up and discuss the critical situation and the huge human tide which is desperately trying to get through to Europe.

While the Continent is still reeling from the latest attack in our heartland and the authorities desperately try to piece together clues to head off any imminent threats, migration is still a problem which is seen to go hand in hand with terror.

EU leaders will meet in roughly three weeks time to discuss the eventuality of a massive shift back to Libya as a point of departure. As the EU continues to bolster resources in the Aegean, between Turkey and Greece, the Balkan states have also shut their borders.

As the lucrative trade of human trafficking feels the pinch, the middlemen will simply stop organising boat trips. As terrible as it sounds, if there is no profit, then there is no business. And that is where Libya comes in. Smugglers there will take advantage of the crumbling security situation there, as will Islamic State.

What the EU does not realise is that by 18 April, when they are due to discuss the situation, hundreds of boats and dinghies will already have set off as the weather improves.

The writing is on the wall, several monitoring agencies as well as politicians and migration experts have urged EU states to prepare for the eventuality of a human catastrophe.

The journeys from Turkey to the Greek islands were relatively short in nature, but the journey from Libya to the Italian islands or Malta is much longer and involves a much larger search and rescue area.

Operation Triton took the decision some time back to patrol closer to the Libyan shore, and that has resulted in much less media coverage due to the fact that people are being picked up offshore, before they get anywhere near Europe.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that some 800,000 migrants are in Libya hoping to cross to Europe. UK Prime Minister David Cameron warned EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and his EU counterparts over a threat of massive migration flows through the Libya-Italy route. The warnings are there.

Italy will bear the brunt of operations, but the Armed Forces of Malta will no doubt be involved too. On an operational level, Malta must be ready to respond to calls for help, as it always has done in the past.

The migrant housing complexes that have lain empty for quite some time now could be full again in a few months time. We must prepare, and while we are sure that contact is ongoing, Malta and Italy must have refresher dialogue to ensure that both countries are on the same page and that we are ready to face any potential challenges at sea, as well as on land.

The situation is not going to change anytime soon. Unless there is stability in countries in the Maghreb, as well as Africa, people will continue to up sticks and leave in search of a better life. We keep talking about the future solution to global stability and prosperity, but what about the here and now? The world was shocked by the Lampedusa tragedy. But has it forgotten already? We must be prepared and we must be ready.