Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo has said that the ongoing migration crisis makes him “feel like leaving politics”.
Writing on Facebook, the veteran politician – who only assumed the post of Foreign Minister in January – said that he felt “very unhappy” and “frustrated” by the current situation and threatened to resign if he could not convince the European Union to help Malta share the load of incoming asylum seekers.
More than 1,000 migrants reached Malta in the first three months of the year, until the government declared the country’s ports closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A decision to send a group of migrants floating at sea back to Libya through the intervention of a private fishing vessel has also prompted international media attention and suggestions that Malta may have breached international law.
On Friday, Prime Minister Robert Abela acknowledged the mission but insisted it could not be described as a pushback.
“We saved tens of lives,” Abela said, arguing that the migrants had been returned to an “open port”.
Malta has since chartered another private boat, usually used for tourist cruises, to house a separate group of migrants rescued at sea until they can be relocated.
Bartolo’s frustrated post – “Isn’t it possible for us to out together an immigration policy which protects our people as well as the dignity and rights of immigrants?” he asked – was posted just an hour after a similar post in which he lashed out at those who criticised Malta for its approach.
"We are the smallest country in Europe. We are carrying a burden much greater than we can bear," he argued.
"All we are asking is for the other EU countries to take their share of irregular migrants. Are we asking too much?”
In the 15 years since 2005 EU member states “have only accepted eight out of every hundred who landed on our shores,” he noted.
It remains extremely difficult to get EU member states to agree to relocate their fair share of asylum seekers: in a letter sent to the EU Commission on Friday, Malta noted that 129 pledges by other member states to relocate migrants remained unfulfilled.
“Instead of accusing and condemning us, wouldn’t it be better if they found a practical way to help us?" he asked.
Indirect criticism came Malta's way on Friday from UN refugee agency UNHCR, which said that people rescued at sea should not be taken to Libya, due to the ongoing conflict there and other human rights concerns.
Malta had already been stopped from returning migrant boats to Libya in 2013 by the European Court of Human Rights.
In a statement, assistant high commissioner for protection at UNHCR Gillian Triggs said that rescue at sea is an “obligation under international law” and that public health concerns surrounding it, while legitimate, “can be addressed through quarantine, health checks, and other measures”.
The UNHCR said that EU Mediterranean states had a “major responsibility” for sea arrivals but also acknowledged that these countries had to be able to count on the “predictable solidarity of others” to relocate disembarked migrants.