This was posted a short while ago by Italian journalist Roberto Saviano. Sums it up well. My translation is beneath.

“Malta is the European gateway for untraceable dirty money coming from all over the world. Italy is the country where the most dangerous and powerful mafie that exist hide, spreading out everywhere for more than a hundred years.

“Malta and Italy are open for criminal money, for criminal entrepreneurs and for cocaine. But they close their harbours for 49 people – men, women and defenseless children — that since the 22nd December have been at the mercy of the sea”.