A large number of organisations came together last Sunday to commemorate the 1,971 people who are known to have died at sea or gone missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean last year.

There are probably many more people who perished while trying to search for a better life – people we do not even know are missing, let alone dead.

The United Nations’ refugee agency estimates that over 23,000 people died at sea over the past decade, but the real figures are probably much higher.

The ceremony on Sunday was a stark reminder of the daily tragedies that unfold at sea, the people who die far away from home, from help and from our attention.

The organisations have accused the Maltese authorities of “looking away” from their duties to protect the lives of people at sea.

Indeed, many questions remain unanswered on Malta’s actions in several migrant ‘rescue’ cases. Besides, the treatment of migrants after they are saved is also highly questionable, including the infamous case where a large group of migrants were held on a ‘pleasure’ boat for weeks, with the excuse of Covid-19.

Naturally, Malta cannot take the blame alone. Several other Mediterranean countries have similarly been accused of letting people die at sea, while the European community as a whole has failed to put up a united front to deal with the migration problem. The world as a whole has failed to make a holistic effort to deal with the problem at its source. The situation in several African states, as well as other countries around the world, remains dire. Poverty, human rights violations and war remain some of the main causes behind migration.

In certain cases, interventions by the West and other countries has only made things worse, and millions of families have had to flee in search of safety and stability.

The worst thing is that this is an ongoing situation. Numbers may be low right now because crossing the Mediterranean in winter is nothing short of a suicide mission. But as the weather turns more favourable, the migration flows will start again, and more people will die.

How often have we heard politicians speaking of solidarity, tackling the problem at its root, investing in poor countries, or launching border patrol missions?

There have been times when we have been told that some kind of agreement has been found but, when another tragedy occurs, there is either a wall of silence or else a blame game ensues, with none the wiser as soon as the interest in the story subsides.

Otherwise, a case-by-case system has been adopted, often leading to situations in which migrants have been left stranded at sea for days on end.

Over its decades of existence, Europe has shown that it has been capable of finding common ground on many issues that it was facing.

This is unfortunately not the case with migration. A much stronger effort is needed by all stakeholders for a solution to be found.

Such a solution should be found as soon as possible, before the beautiful Mediterranean Sea once again turns into a bloodbath.