Commissioner: Malta, Italy must solve migration issue together

May 8, 2009, 21:06 GMT

Valletta, Malta - European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani said Friday that Italy and Malta had to solve the problem of illegal immigration together.

Illegal immigration is a European problem, and Italy and Malta should not be expected to shoulder the burden alone, the Italian Commissioner told a news conference during an official visit to the Mediterranean island.

His comments were clearly an attempt to mend fences between two neighbours that have accused each other in recent weeks of abandoning their legal obligations of rescue at sea.

Tajani said he supported European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot's idea that all states had to help share the burden by taking a quota of refugees.

The EU's border agency, Frontex, should be beefed up and reinforced to stem the problem, he said, insisting that Europe should have a common policy for stability in Africa.

'If the EU ignores the problem, Europe would, in future, face an uncontrollable influx of people. So we have to think about the problem now,' he said.

On Wednesday, the Italian Coast Guard picked up more than 200 immigrants between the Italian islet of Lampedusa and Malta, following hours of tension between the two countries over who should take in the boat people.

In a surprise move, Italy sent the immigrants back to Libya, prompting criticism by the United Nations Refugee Agency, which said that a number of those on board the rescued vessel could have been eligible for protection.