'Show of support'

Patrol vessel P-61 cuts through the waves off the Maltese coast, while overhead a helicopter from the German federal police flies past, writes BBC's Alix Kroeger in his analysis of 'Malta's struggle with migrants':

..But this is not a real border patrol of Malta's territorial waters: instead, it is a show of political support for the tiny island state...On board P-61 are EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, the director of the EU external border agency Frontex, Ilkka Laitinen, and Maltese Justice Minister Tonio Borg. The patrol goes no further than Valletta harbour. It would take too long, around five hours, to get out to the real patrol zone, and anyway the seas are too rough: it is unlikely any migrants will be risking the crossing today.

Malta has been appealing for help: more ships, helicopters and equipment to increase border patrols. It also wants "burden-sharing": that is, EU countries less exposed by geography taking in a share of the migrants. The patrol around Valletta demonstrates the limitations of EU solidarity. Frontex has just six assets - three Maltese patrol boats, two German helicopters and a launch - to patrol a sea area the size of Britain. Greece and Spain have promised contributions. Italy, Malta's nearest neighbour, has stayed silent. "The point is very clear: Malta cannot patrol alone a very broad area of search and rescue," says Mr Frattini..

..Those who make it to Malta face an uncertain future. They are held in closed detention centres for up to 18 months while their claims are processed. If they are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, they are released to live in open centres. "(The migrants) get very, very disappointed because this is Europe," says Cristina Zammit of the Jesuit Refugee Service. She is the only professional social worker in the closed detention centres. "For them, going to Europe is a new life, after all those months or even years of fleeing persecution."..

Malta is hamstrung by an EU regulation which says asylum seekers must make their claim in the first EU country they enter. By an accident of geography, Malta receives a disproportionate number. "We are moving towards a crisis if the present trend continues," Mr Borg warns. "It has created some right-wing opinions which before were hidden in the two mainstream parties. Now they have separated from the mainstream and formed their own party."...The backlash is not just political. There were arson attacks last year against church groups and journalists who publicly supported the migrants..

..There have been no attacks for several months now, but no one has been arrested or charged. The editor of Malta Today, Saviour Balzan, was asleep in bed when his home, opposite a police station, was attacked last year. His newspaper had just published an article supportive of the migrants. They put tyres and petrol on the door but his dogs woke him up. "The fact that they had the gall to attack my house in front of a police station shows their intentions are clear," he says.

..There are migrants from as far away as West Africa at Hal-Far, but most come from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. Most move on as soon as they can. Their aim is to make enough money to get to Italy. Extra border patrols at sea may turn some of them away, but as long as conflict, poverty and, possibly, climate change impel them to move, the migrant flows will continue. The pressure on Malta will only increase.