Ministers ask for solidarity over stranded migrants

Interior ministers will call next week for more solidarity in helping member states in the frontline of migration from Africa but will stop short of agreeing to take in stranded migrants close to Malta.

Draft conclusions to be approved by ministers on Monday (17 September) call on the European Commission to continue examining a proposal put forward by Malta at their last meeting in June, which urges other member states to take in migrants picked up outside its search-and-rescue zone. But most member states are against the idea, because it is thought it would be a pull-factor for migrants wanting to come to Europe.

The draft conclusions ask member states to provide support "to individual mem-ber states facing a particular pressure exacerbated by factors such as their geographical location, the degree to which neighbouring third countries fulfil their international obligations on search-and-rescue, and the current status of co-operation with those countries". That support could include helping send migrants back to the countries they came through in Africa, providing reception conditions for them or taking in recognised asylum-seekers or refugees.

Malta stirred controversy earlier this year by refusing to accept migrants picked up by ships in Libya’s search-and-rescue zone. The Maltese Interior Minister Tonio Borg hit back, calling on other member states to help the tiny state deal with the problem.

Yesterday (12 September) a Maltese diplomat welcomed the draft conclusions saying they recognised "the need for responsibility sharing amongst member states in this field". The diplomat added: "They also emphasise the need for strengthened co-operation with third countries and the need for Frontex to identify and implement longer-term measures concerning maritime patrols at the EU’s southern external border."

But Simon Busuttil, a centre-right Maltese MEP, said: "The Maltese proposal needs to be given serious consideration. It is a reaso-nable proposal which does not ask member states to take in anyone who lands in Malta but just those saved outside European waters."

Interior ministers will call next week for more solidarity in helping member states in the frontline of migration from Africa but will stop short of agreeing to take in stranded migrants close to Malta.