Not a single life will be saved by a new EU law that reforms the bloc's migration and asylum systems, migrant NGOs have said.

While EU legislators were quick to describe the new pact as a "historic deal", NGOs that work to protect lives at sea said it is a "historic failure and a bow to the right-wing parties of Europe".

"Not one single life will be saved by today's decision," the Sea-Watch rescue charity said Wednesday, in a statement it said was backed by more than a dozen NGOs.

They argue that rather than saving lives, the deal will lead to more deaths and then require those who make it to Europe alive to "jump over a series of complicated hurdles just to have their story heard".

Irregular migration has been a bone of contention in Malta since the first boats arrived to the islands' shores 20 years ago. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

EU countries and lawmakers reached an agreement Wednesday to overhaul the bloc's laws on handling asylum-seekers and migrants.

The reform includes speedier vetting of irregular arrivals, creating border detention centres, accelerated deportation for rejected asylum applicants and a solidarity mechanism to take pressure off southern countries experiencing big inflows.

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola hailed the deal in a press conference on Wednesday.

This, she said, was maybe "the most important legislative deal of the mandate" and she promised the "historic" package would make a difference.

But NGOs are having none of it.

'No EU leader should be proud'

Malta's human rights NGO Aditus Foundation was also very concerned.

Speaking to Times of Malta, human rights lawyer Neil Falzon said the new pact will make detention a main feature all over the territory.

"No EU leader should be proud of this new deal. It was presented as a way to appease the likes of Hungary and other hardline member states," he said.

"Persons fleeing persecution or wars will have to jump over a series of complicated hurdles just to have their story heard, let alone to be given the protection they need."

Human rights lawyer Neil Falzon. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

He said the EU has further politicised the lives of people fleeing their homes.

"We fear for Europe’s future, as right-wing policies are not content at blocking refugees. They will also block LGBTIQ+ people, women, persons with disabilities and anyone else they deem different or undeserving," he said.

'EU missed chance to save people'

The Sea-Watch statement - also signed by the Alarm Phone migrant hotline, Sea-Eye and SOS Humanity among others - says the EU reform agreement is "a turning point and one of the most blatant displays of disrespect to human rights and the suffering along European borders". 

"With the agreement on the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), the EU has decided to formalise a status quo where violence, neglect, torture and leaving people to die are everyday practice," it said. 

It said the bloc "missed the chance to agree on core mechanisms to put an end to the dying at sea". 

"Instead, the EU institutions have decided to actively gut the rights of those seeking protection, legalising the violations of EU asylum law by the member states," it said.

Sea-Watch is one of several organisations operating ships in the Mediterranean to rescue migrants who try to reach Europe on small boats.

The central Mediterranean crossing, between North Africa and Italy and Malta, is the world's deadliest migration route, with more than 2,200 deaths this year alone, according to the UN.

Activists have been fighting for more humane treatment to refugees for years. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The deal would "restrict access to protection in Europe by introducing fast-track asylum procedures at the border to speed up returns", the NGOs said.

The plans would "isolate refugees from the rest of society, detain them in remote camps and prevent any form of integration".

It added that the agreement offered "no safe and legal routes" to seek protection in the European Union.

"All of this will force more people to try to flee by sea, and choose ever more dangerous routes. Again and again, more lives will be lost," it said.

Malta's Ħal Far open centre. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

'A dark day for Europe'

An alliance of 117 NGOs protecting refugee rights - called The European Council on Refugees and Exiles - said this was "a dark day" for Europe.

It said the reforms are based on false premises and dubbed them "byzantine in their complexity and Orban-esque in their cruelty to refugees".

Another international organisation - Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) - joined the chorus, saying "the pact harms people".

Meanwhile, Italy and Greece welcomed the deal on Wednesday, but Hungary rejected it.

Times of Malta has asked the Maltese government for a reaction to the new law.