This decision follows recent tragic happenings involving migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

The French Navy's frigate Lamotte Piquet recovered up to 21 corpses within the Libyan search and rescue regions on Friday 2nd June 2007. The Armed Forces of Malta's (AFM) Rescue Co-ordination Centre Headquarters in Luqa Barracks was informed of the recovery of the first body at around 1130CEST. The AFM requested it carries out a standard complete search pattern of the immediate area where the corpses were found. By the time the search ended 21 bodies were recovered.

Besides this tragic incident, in the past few days, the AFM assisted twenty-nine illegal immigrants who landed at Haywharf last Sunday. The group consisted of twenty-six men, two women and a six-month old baby. Furthermore earlier last week, 27 illegal immigrants whose vessel sank in Libyan waters 120 miles south of Malta were rescued by Tripoli authorities after grabbing onto tuna cages for safety. The illegal immigrants' coordinates were reported to Maltese authorities by a tug boat, Budafel. Maltese authorities immediately got in touch with their Libyan counterparts and a rescue operation was launched to save the illegal immigrants.

On the other hand, on Monday the chief of the Armed Forces of Malta, Brigadier Carmel Vassallo defended Malta 's position on the issue of illegal immigration saying that Malta is doing much more than Italy, France or Spain to rescue these persons especially as Libya irresponsibly continues to be reluctant to provide assistance.

This reaction was spearheaded by an international chorus of dissent in the past few days, with Mr Frattini and Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg urging Malta to stop hiding behind legal bureaucratic arguments while letting people die.

Malta’s Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil also highlighted Malta’s difficulties in coping with illegal immigrants influxes during  a Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament debate on Monday saying that “What happened recently is tragic but please note that nothing has been done by the EU or Frontex to help Malta. Our island is being left completely alone to tackle this issue." 

The committee expressed its solidarity with the island which was recently blamed for incidents which occurred inside Libya's search and rescue zone, reported The Times of Malta.

Referring particularly to the recent incidents involving a Maltese tuna pen and the Spanish trawler Montfalco, French MEP, Martine Roure said it is astonishing that despite all the talk and promises of the Commission, Europe is just looking at the problem with no real plan on how to act.

According to the newspaper, Madame Roure said that "It is not fair that Malta is being accused of not doing its part on illegal immigration, adding that “the EU is not doing anything to help Malta.”

Madame Roure further explained that Malta is only the front door of the problem and that the issue needs to be tackled by all the EU member states.

Read more about this issue in MaltaMedia's Special Feature Lanċa Ġejja u Ohra Sejra