Prime Minister Joseph Muscat spoke on the 11 October Lampedusa tragedy last week and seemed to imply that because of international laws and regulations there was some kind of issue as to who was responsible to save the hundreds of migrants who were drowning off the Italian island.
Dr Muscat was interviewed during last Friday’s edition of Xarabank. He brought the subject up when presenter Peppi Azzopardi asked him about the toughest decisions he had taken so far.
Dr Muscat said that on 11 October he received a phone call from the AFM commander, then Brigadier Martin Xuereb. “What are we going to do because according to the international rules we are not the ones who are supposed to take them? But we are seeing people go under one by one. They cannot fight the currents anymore.”
To which Dr Muscat said he replied: “Listen, forget all the rules and laws. Pick them up and bring them to Malta.” Dr Muscat insisted that this was not a difficult decision, but rather a natural and obvious one. It was the decision that needed to be taken.
AFM insist on keeping everything secret
In the meantime, the Armed Forces of Malta have refused a Freedom of Information request made by MaltaToday on the 11 October Lampedusa tragedy. The paper reports that the army has refused to divulge the requested information but has not given an explanation for its refusal.
The Armed Forces of Malta and the Home Affairs Ministry have refused to answer questions sent by this paper as well as by Italian L’Espresso journalist Fabrizio Gatti, who has been following the story from day one.
Mr Gatti was the first to point out that the Italian warship ITS Libra was only 50 kilometres away from the sinking boat, but was not sent to help by Italy or Malta. Other merchant and coast guard vessels were, likewise, not requested to help until after the fishing boat had capsized. Around 270 Syrians are thought to have drowned. Among them were dozens of children.
The Malta Independent has reported during the past few weeks that the available timeline of events seems to point out that all the migrants could have been saved had the authorities acted immediately. A migrant on board the boat claims to have contacted both Italy and Malta by satellite phone before 1pm and warned the operators that the migrants “were heading towards their death.”
The Malta Independent on Sunday also published the Hydrolant warning – sent at 1.34pm – that warned ships in the Mediterranean that a boat loaded with refugees was requesting assistance. And Italy also claims that when Malta took over the rescue operation at 1pm, the AFM were informed that a number of ships were in the vicinity of the migrant boat.
What happened between 1 and 4pm remains under wraps. What is known is that the boat capsized and sank a few minutes after 5pm and Malta only asked for Italy’s help at this time. By the time the Maltese P61 arrived on scene at 5.51pm hundreds had drowned. The ITS Libra, having been kept on stand-by a few miles away, only reached the disaster area after 6pm.
Despite the media blackout, both the Prime Minister and the new AFM commander spoke on the Lampedusa tragedy on Friday. Speaking on the national station’s breakfast show Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi insisted that the armed forces had followed proper procedures and acted on time. It is not known whether the Prime Minister and the AFM chief spoke on the issue on the same day out of coincidence or because of the mounting pressure on the government to come up with an explanation. However, both Dr Muscat and Brigadier Curmi left all questions unanswered.