When Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy assumed power late last year, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri predicted that our neighbour to the north would be changing its immigration policy soon.
“Malta and Italy share the same challenges in the central Mediterranean and there is no way these challenges can be addressed if we do not work together,” he had correctly remarked.
Merely seven months later, it is Italy – or, rather, a top Italian politician – that is accusing Malta of acting dishonestly where it comes to the problem of irregular migration.
“Malta’s attitude is starting to grate,” Tommaso Foti, who heads the ruling Brothers of Italy grouping in parliament, said. “They consistently pretend not to see and never intervene.” The statement was made as Italy moved to rescue a big group of migrants adrift at sea and Malta faced accusations of refusing to lift a finger to save lives in manifest danger.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Malta is, by design, drawing up and scrupulously adopting policies and tactics aimed at keeping ‘boat people’ away from its shores come what may.
Pope Francis reminded us, when he was here a year ago, that, according to its Phoenician etymology, Malta means “safe harbour”. But that ‘safe harbour’ is evidently out of bounds to people fleeing misery and seeking a new, better life elsewhere.
Addressing the crisis is no mean feat. “If the complexity of the migration issue is to be properly addressed, it needs to be situated within a broader context of time and space,” the pope had acknowledged.
He explained that the migration phenomenon is not a temporary situation but a sign of our times. As for space, the pontiff noted that the growing migration emergency calls for a broad-based and shared response, adding that some countries cannot respond to the entire problem while others remain indifferent onlookers.
This is perhaps the real crux of the problem: many countries are big on talk but small on action.
Camilleri was right when he said that efforts to tackle the challenges of migration have to happen within the context of EU membership and the relationship with neighbouring countries. The challenges are such that they will never be overcome through underhand deals, leaving people to die at sea or threatening voluntary rescue organisations with legal action.
The Armed Forces of Malta cannot possibly defend themselves by arguing they do not intervene unless there is a formal rescue request. People hanging on to dear life as their overcrowded boat drifts in dangerous waters do not need to send an SOS to be saved.
One cannot expect tiny Malta to assume responsibility for migrant rescues in the central Mediterranean but we cannot accept the way our government is disgracefully turning a blind eye to vessels in distress. Yesterday’s reported rescue by the AFM was a rare departure from this policy. The migration crisis remains a tragedy in many acts, with the script being written and altered as the number of deaths mount.
The EU has yet to come up with a strategy that accepts migration as a reality, upholds solidarity and helps those needing protection. As Roberta Metsola said, notwithstanding the migration challenge recurring, Europe still fails to agree on a long-term sustainable approach.
Pope Francis said it best when he declared: “The Mediterranean needs co-responsibility on the part of Europe to become a new theatre of solidarity and not the harbinger of a tragic shipwreck of civilisation. The mare nostrum should not become the biggest cemetery of Europe.”