Malta’s €100m Libya proposal aims to turn war-torn state into ‘safe port for migrants’

The Maltese proposal for a €100 million humanitarian ‘mission’ to Libya has requested that both the EU’s border mission (EUBAM) and the United Nation’s Support Mission (UNSMIL) be utilised to stop asylum seekers and other migrants from leaving Libya by travelling at sea to cross to Europe.

In a letter to the EU’s external relations representative Josep Borrell, foreign minister Evarist Bartolo insisted that by alleviating the “difficult circumstances” that migrants are living in, could encourage them to stay instead of making the crossing to Europe at a time of crisis when countries like Malta and Italy have shut down their ports.

“It will also deter the business model of people smugglers who shall no longer be allowed to profit from the misery of the most desperate,” Bartolo and home affairs minister Byron Camilleri wrote in their letter to the European Commission.

13 April Letter to Josep Borrell from Malta foreign minister by maltatoday on Scribd

The two ministers insisted the €100m mission was “the only sustainable and realistic option to avoid this humanitarian crisis and save lives of men, women and children” by providing food, medicines and healthcare equipment to Libyans and migrants living there.

They said Malta’s resources were stretched but that it would provide logistical support for the humanitarian aid to arrive to its destination. “We are also ready to assist Libya to help in the purchase of much-needed medical equipment to treat people.”

Mirroring previous Italian and pan-European efforts, Malta said it would train Libyan coast guards in strengthening border control and even “concretely ensuring that Libya represents a safe port for the disembarkation of migrants.”

In a stern rebuke to the EU, Bartolo and Camilleri said the time when Europe could comfortably afford to indefinitely postpone decisions concerning Libya and Mediterranean migration had ended. “We call on you, your colleagues within the College of Commissioners, the EU Institutions, and the European Union as a whole to put into action the Union’s aim to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples. This by urgently mobilizing all political, legal and economic tools available to stabilize Libya in the immediate term.”

Bartolo wants a paper of options to be discussed at an emergency Foreign Affairs Council convened at the earliest opportunity and before the upcoming European Council.

He described Libya as a complex landscape plagued with difficulties across conflict, health, humanitarian and migration dimensions, “all of which are snowballing at this very moment.”

The COVID-19 crisis is also leaving its mark in Libya by weakening an already fragile health system, with humanitarian assistance on the ground decreasing.

“The above is resulting in a situation where over 650,000 people await to leave Libyan shores for Europe as the rate of departures accelerates due to conflict, disease and lack of basic needs In this horrific context, there are all the ingredients for a major humanitarian disaster waiting to happen, as desperate people look at the Mediterranean Sea as their only escape.

“The situation is further complicated as certain front-line Member States, including Malta, have closed their ports in view of how all resources, especially medical and those related to security, are being channeled to mitigate and treat the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Bartolo said that in the last 12 months Malta had disembarked close to 4,500 irregular migrants, one of the highest numbers ever since 2002. He said Malta’s migrant reception facilities are full and the disembarkation of more migrants will make it impossible to enforce the procedures currently in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“The current situation, therefore, is already difficult. Within this scenario, Malta is faced with an increased demand for rescue while it has less resources available. Malta is therefore facing a rapidly deteriorating situation.

“Unless the EU acts now we risk witnessing an already-difficult situation becoming worse, potentially resulting in exacerbated human suffering, and avoidable loss of human life.”