Malta adopts a wait-and-see stand

The Foreign Affairs Ministry says it will "wait and see" how the Italian government proceeds to implement an immediate repatriation policy before taking an official stand on the matter.

The ministry was contacted for its reaction to Italy's decision to deport all immigrants reaching its shores.

Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, was reported saying he had arranged for the "activation of a centre suitable for identification and expulsion". The Italian government announced its decision after a spell of good weather led to over 2,000 immigrants landing in the Italian island of Lampedusa over the Christmas period.

Mr Maroni boasted that 38 Egyptians were the first group to be flown to Cairo under the new plan.

From the local end, a total of 3,020 immigrants were repatriated between 2004 and the end of November, including 968 Egyptians, whose mother country had agreed to take them back without problems.

With these figures in hand, the ministry said Italy was not re-inventing the wheel when it decided to deport all immigrants reaching its shores. Unfortunately, an increasing number of illegal immigrants were now arriving from countries such as Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Somalia, Eritrea and Liberia, where repatriation proved to be more difficult.

The implication of Italy's announcement is that expulsion may be fast-tracked. This brought mixed reactions, with a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, saying the move raised the risk of "generalised expulsions". It appealed to the Italian government to respect the rights of immigrants.

The debate over immigration was sparked again by the recent landings in Malta, which brought ashore 103 men and 36 women, 10 of them claiming to be pregnant.

The immigrants, who were probably headed for Italy, made contact with the Italian Coast Guard's station in Rome via a satellite phone. The Italians informed the Armed Forces of Malta, which intervened to help them as the engine of their 35-foot grey rubber dinghy stalled.

In 2008, a record year for immigrant landings, all the 84 boats, carrying a total of 2,775 illegal migrants, intercepted in Maltese territorial waters had departed for Europe from Libyan shores.