Brussels, 24/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 23 August, the Swedish Presidency of the European Union promised further proposals on immigration by the end of October, in response to calls from calls from Italy, off whose coast the latest tragedy has cost 73 lives. “We will have a first proposal from the EU with regard to distribution criteria for immigration flows among the 27 (EU member states),” said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the annual meeting of the Italian Catholic movement Communion and Freedom in the seaside town of Rimini. Rome called on EU countries to have a common response to illegal immigration, after a small craft was discovered off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, to the south of Sicily, with five Eritrean illegal immigrants on board. The five told how they had watched 73 of their travelling companions die. “All we Europeans, all 27 countries must bear responsibility for these people. We must consider this a European problem,” said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. “The EU has said much … but has not yet said what should happen when a group of migrants reaches the borders of Europe,” he added, calling on the European Union “to really begin to distribute immigrants who reach the Maltese or Italian coasts, not just throughout Italy and Malta, but to many other countries”. The European Commission will bring forward a working paper before EU foreign ministers meet at the end of October. This would only be a first step, Bildt said, since “such a big problem cannot be solved in a single meeting”. The Commission is planning to set up a pilot project in Malta to resettle persons entitled to international protection in other member states (see EUROPE 9945). Frattini stressed that talks with Malta had to continue, to help it monitor its territorial waters to prevent any further tragedies. “We continue to believe the talks which have been going on for 10 years with Malta over that area of sea are indispensible for the whole international community,” he said. On Saturday, Frattini told Corriere della Sera that Malta did not possess the means to properly monitor the waters for which it is responsible and that he wanted Valetta to sign the agreement that Italy has sought for 10 years to allow it to take over sea rescues in some Maltese waters. His Maltese counterpart, Tonio Borg, said that, even under pressure, Valetta had no intention of signing an agreement with foreign countries on monitoring its territorial waters. The five Eritrean survivors, who had left Libya at the end of July, told how they had watched 73 fellow migrants die over three weeks as they drifted between Africa and Europe. After being picked up by an Italian vessel, the five said that all the others had died of hunger and thirst. They claimed that several boats had approached them but that none had brought them any succour. While calling for an investigation, Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni hinted that the story told by the five survivors may not be accurate. (B.C./transl.rt)