Malta’s migration governance and the task of managing external borders in the European Union context

Abstract

In the last two decades, Malta has often maintained its humanitarian commitment to managing border and asylum procedures in the context of international conventions. This is particularly emphasized in relation to rescuing migrants and generally enhancing safety and security of border crossings. Though the smallest EU member state has initiated policies aimed at reducing illegal and unsafe crossings to its shores, the country still hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the EU with 25.3 per cent of its population being foreign nationals. This paper examines the measures put in place by the Maltese authorities to manage the enormous inflow of migrants on its shores in tandem with the four pillars of European Agenda on Migration. It also interrogates the institutional means and structural capacity of Malta to ensure the efficient implementation of the European Border Surveillance system (EUROSUR) on the one hand or provide rights-based approach to migration and asylum on the other hand. Lastly, it identifies Malta’s collaborative efforts with other countries in the last twenty years and peculiar challenges faced by the more exposed countries (i.e. Malta, Spain, Italy and Greece) in the course of countering irregular border crossings.