Malta will not become a Mediterranean centre for saving migrants, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday.

Muscat was responding to what appeared to be a suggestion by the leader of the opposition earlier during the week, who said that Malta should become a centre for migrant saving operations in the Mediterranean.

He emphasised that while saving lives was of paramount importance, he would never accept that Malta become any kind of migration centre in Europe.

"Human life comes first, but we will not become a place where everyone can leave their problems," Muscat stressed.

Migration has returned to the top of the Maltese political agenda in recent months following a change in policy by Italy's new government. Italy has refused to accept migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, especially those rescued by NGOs, leading to a number of disputes with other European states, especially Malta.

Muscat said that in cases such as a dispute last month over migrants rescued by the Italian coast guard, he would not allow anyone to say Malta was breaking the law, when it was in fact correctly following international rules.

Such rules, he said, laid out that a sea vessel has a right of passage in international water, and cannot be stopped if it does not request any assistance and makes known its intention to keep passing through.

"As a government, we are consistent in our policies and our attitude - I have been saying what I am saying today from the outset. We are operating in a correct manner - we save lives when needed, we are sharing the burden with other countries, and we expect that there are rules which everyone, including the NGOs, abide by," he underlined, "But when it comes to the interests of our country, we will remain firm."