A number of businessmen have lamented to The Sunday Times of Malta that they were losing business in Libya because the local authorities were clamping down on visas to Libyans and non-EU nationals based in Libya.

Until the recent civil unrest broke out, the Maltese embassy in Tripoli was handling hundreds of visa requests per day. However, this has apparently all but stopped.

“It is not possible for us to go to Libya because of security concerns. So if we want to meet our partners, we all have to go to Tunisia or Egypt – which is far from ideal,” the spokesman for a company involved in oil and gas said.

“When there was the revolution in 2011, there had been much more collaboration bet­ween the government and the private sector, but this time it is different,” a representative from a travel agency said.

“Malta was the perfect place for people from Libya to meet their European principals.

“We have seen a 70 per cent drop since July in the number of visas issued.”

The situation is complicated by the fact that the Maltese embassy is not operating, and since fingerprints are needed with the application, the only way for the non-EU nationals to apply for a Schengen visa is to go in person to the nearest embassy in Tunis or Cairo. But even this is only permitted once they have sought approval to apply from the Central Visa Unit. And approval to apply does not in any way guarantee that the visa will be issued.