Updated | Joseph Muscat rattles EU cage on pushbacks

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has reaffirmed his government's position not to exclude the controversial pushbacks of migrants at sea, even though he has acknowledged that the practice employed by the Italian government in the past was found to be illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.

Muscat today brushed aside criticism from NGOs who took his position on migrant pushbacks to task, saying that his government had a mandate to take a "strong position".

"I believe I have a mandate to take a strong stand, not with those in need because we saved people who were drowning, but to send a clear signal to politicians," Muscat said.

In the aftermath of the rescue of some 290 migrants at sea, Muscat called on EU president Herman van Rompuy to demand concrete assistance on migration and asylum, under pain of Malta using its veto to hamstring EU business.

Muscat today said the NGOs' criticism of his position was a measure of consistence, but he said that equally his position on migration and the EU has been consistent.

"My position is not something new. I said this before the election. We are now putting it in practice," Muscat said of his demands that the EU helps out member states affected by migrant arrivals, in the same way that the EU helped bail out member states with high debts.

When pressed on the illegality of pushbacks and a court sentence of the European Court of Human Rights against Italy, Muscat noted that while the controversial practice was found to be "in its opinion" against international law, "the court did not offer a solution either."

Pushbacks suspend a person's international right to claim asylum in a country of refuge, by physically barring their entry into a country and transporting them back to the country they have left.

Muscat has been unclear so far about when he will employ pushbacks.

"We are sending clear signals and it's a day-to-day development. This is our policy: being clear that we are not excluding pushbacks."

Dubbing the Prime Minister's declaration as "disappointing", Opposition leader Simon Busuttil defended his past position on the Italy pushbacks, which he never condemned.

"I once said we had to admit that the pushbacks by Italy led to a decrease in arrivals to Malta. Subsequently, this practice was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights," Busuttil said. "One would have expected the Prime Minister to take note of such a statement."

He insisted the PN's policy on migration was "exactly that as shown by the party while in government".

"When in government, the PN never engaged in pushbacks. Indeed, the phenomenon of migration is still ongoing. But this is not a tap you can turn off," he said.

Busuttil admitted that while irregular migration was not something which any political party liked to face, yet one had to protect them and bring them to shore.

"This position doesn't mean that it stopped the influx. It is a yearly phenomenon but when compared to previous years, the figures are reasonable," he said.