Malta was already showing its share of solidarity with the Italian government by deploying assets for migrant search and rescue missions, a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister said yesterday.
“Cooperation with Italian authorities remains excellent and Malta keeps steadfast in fulfilling all its obligations at law,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.
The Auberge de Castille was asked to react to the Italian government’s announcement that it was considering closing its ports to vessels bearing rescued migrants if it was not given help in carrying the burden.
The spokesman did not say when asked whether the government would extend its solidarity to the Italian government even further by accepting rescue vessels loaded with migrants.
Italy is a country under pressure, and we ask the help of our European allies
More than 73,000 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya and brought to Italy this year, on top of the 181,000 who arrived last year, and Rome’s patience is reportedly running out.
Meanwhile, not a single migrant has arrived in Malta by boat this year, after the number dropped by a massive 80 per cent in 2015 to just 106.
Pressed on the issue, the spokesman said that Malta was among the EU countries which entered and implemented EU solidarity mechanisms related to migration.
Rather than focus on where migrants were dropped off, Member States should try and find real solutions to the migration crisis.
“All the efforts of Malta, Italy and others suffering from the immigration crisis should remain focused on persuading other EU countries not to shrug responsibility in the face of this humanitarian crisis,” the spokesman said.
In the space of just 48 hours this week, 10,000 mainly economic migrants were pulled from leaking rubber dinghies and decrepit wooden boats and safely transported to Sicily and other parts of southern Italy.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni told a press conference on Thursday that the situation was no longer sustainable unless Italy received a lot more help from the rest of the EU.
Italy is “a country under pressure, and we ask the help of our European allies,” he said.
In response to the Italian threat, the EU this week pledged more financial support and urged Italy not to act hastily.
“We support and we understand Italy’s concern and we support their call for a change in the situation,” a European Commission spokeswoman said.
Under EU rules, a migrant must apply for asylum in the country in which he or she first arrives, placing an enormous burden on Italy to house and feed the migrants while they wait for their applications to be processed.