French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian promised French immigration officials would be travelling more frequently to Malta to oversee migrant relocations to France, as part of its commitment to burden-sharing on irregular migration with southern European states. 

Le Drian, together with Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo, gave a joint statement to the press after the French minister stopped in Malta after a visit to Beirut on Wednesday evening. 

Bartolo said they had discussed security issues in the Mediterranean tied directly to security issues in Europe and that Malta’s position between the African continent and Europe made the situation difficult. 

“We have had a record number of arrivals this year,” Bartolo said. 

“The southern European border is currently only protected from human traffickers by one or two Libyan coastguard vessels, however with their cooperation as well as that of the Government of National Accord we have stopped over three thousand people from entering through our southern borders.”

Bartolo said the root causes of mass migration needed to be tackled, and this included helping African nations minimise the need for Sahara crossings and assisting the Libyan coast guard with patrols. 

Additionally, he noted that relocation of migrants had not been very successful in the Maltese context, as just 15% of people who landed in Malta were relocated to other European nations in 15 years. 

Le Drian noted that Malta and France had a similar mindset in implementing policies and better regulating and controlling migration in the southern border. 

“We share a similar ideology, that it would be a shame to see the Libyan nation not in control of the Libyan people. We must work to implement a ceasefire and lift embargoes on Libyan oil. We must also work to make sure that the weapons embargo is respected by all parties. 

The French minister noted that responsibility and solidarity in terms of migration had a different meaning for countries like Malta, operating so close to the Libyan coast. 

“We have to move away from temporary solutions to long term problems and start finding permanent strategies that are incorporated into the EU migration pact,” Le Drian said.