Malta will place convention reform on Council of Europe agenda, Abela tells migration meeting

Robert Abela joined other like-minded leaders wishing to explore “innovative solutions” to curb irregular migration in a meeting held just before the summit in Brussels.

The Maltese prime minister sat with counterparts from Czechia, Sweden and Belgium, in a meeting on migration co-hosted by the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was also present.

In comments after the meeting, Abela said there was agreement on the need to hold discussions on the possibility of reforming European conventions to reflect modern-day realities.

The Prime Minister said other leaders were interested in Malta’s proposal to put this reform on the agenda of the Council of Europe when Malta takes over the presidency in May. The COC is a distinct body from the EU and member countries must be signitories of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Convention reform was not listed as a priority for Malta's presidency by Foreign Minister Ian Borg last month when addressing a press conference alongside Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset. Borg had said Malta's presidency will focus on youth empowerment, the protection of children, combating violence and discrimination and safeguarding human rights.

The migration meeting took place on Thursday just before the start of the European Council meeting.

The term “innovative solutions” is usually associated with outsourcing of migrant detention centres. The EU executive recently proposed a new regulation that, if approved, will enable member states to strike deals with non-EU countries to build overseas centres where rejected asylum seekers could be transferred.

Malta is one of the EU member states supporting such an approach, which marks a major turning point in European migration policy. Until now, outsourcing was considered off limits and in contradiction with EU and international law.

Human rights groups are critical of such an approach, which they say weakens refugee protection in Europe.

Abela noted the ever-increasing number of EU member states arguing for better migration controls, adding that until a few years ago Malta was one of a few countries that spoke about the subject.

“The fact that migrant arrivals in Malta have reduced drastically, does not mean that the pressure is not there but that we have better knowledge of how to handle the situation,” Abela said.

Malta and Libya had signed a cooperation agreement through which joint migrant coordination centres were set up in both countries. The job of these centres is to identify any boats departing from Libya and intercept them before they exit Libyan waters. Migrants are then returned back to Libya.

The UN does not recognise Libya as a safe place for returning migrants with human rights groups criticising Malta’s actions in this regard.

Meanwhile, Eurostat data published on Thursday shows that almost 912,000 people applied for international protection for the first time in the EU in 2024, representing a decrease of 13% over the previous year. It is the first decline in first-time applications since 2020.

Syrians accounted for 16% of the total number of first applications, followed by Venezuelans and Afghans. Syria has consistently been the top country of origin for asylum-seekers since 2013, after the failed attempt to depose the Bashar al-Assad regime led to a brutal crackdown.