The UK Foreign Office minister, Lady Anelay, has said that the efforts have encouraged migration and had an unintended 'pull factor', as those fleeing would expect to be picked up by a patrol ship. Stopping the patrols, she said, would deter the migrants. Predictably, Amnesty International, Statewatch, the British Refugee Council and others have said that the migrants would try and escape from their country regardless, even if the likelihood was that they would drown, and they should be helped.
The refugee problem has continued for many years, particularly with people from North Africa who wish to flee atrocities in their own country and seek asylum in Europe. Civil wars, corrupt systems and dictatorships are at the heart of the matter, and even in the poorest regions people have felt unsafe. There are always those who exploit the situation and offer passage from an apparent danger to a safer haven, for a fee. The culprits use unseaworthy boats for transport and are unconcerned about vessels sinking, along with their passengers.
The decision has now been taken to operate a scaled-down border control and to investigate the source of the trade, rather than police the Mediterranean Sea. This will, of course, use fewer resources and cost less. What the UK and others are, in effect, now telling potential migrants is that, if you leave your own country, you do so at your own risk and cannot expect to be saved or receive special treatment. The terrible fact is that it makes sense not to help. Economically and culturally, countries can't afford to have an open-door policy. Rescuing the migrants is a chivalrous and humane action, but cannot be sustained. 150,000 immigrants arriving from an under-developed country in a year creates enormous pressure on resources and it's impossible to integrate them satisfactorily.
Whilst many UK citizens are complaining about the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe, equally I doubt whether they will condone the idea of North African migrants reaching the shores of Italy and Malta as a stepping stone into Europe. The NIMBY effect is inherent in most of us and we want to protect our own. We'll turn away from the sight of black Africans drowning and quietly continue our contented lives. In reality, there's no other way and that's the hard truth that is rarely admitted and written down on paper.