Whether by coincidence or not, the first call that the Italians confirmed to have received on 11 October – when 270 migrants drowned off Lampedusa – was recorded at the very same moment the vessel crossed into Malta’s Search and Rescue Zone. This raises the question of whether Italy let the boat cross into Malta’s SAR zone to avoid being responsible for the rescue. But would this absolve Italy of its duties? Italian vessels were still closer to Maltese assets and the closest safe port was Lampedusa. This means that although Malta would have been responsible for coordinating the mission, Italian assets would still have had to do their part.

In an interview conducted by L’Espresso journalist Fabrizio Gatti, Dr Mohammad Jammo testified that he had called RCC Rome at 11am and warned that the boat was slowly sinking, having been holed by machinegun fire from a Libyan patrol boat the night before. But in his reply to the L’Espresso report, Italian Admiral Felicio Angrisano insisted that the first call by the Syrian medic was received at 11.26pm. Admiral Angrisano claims that the first call was inaudible and Dr Jammo Called again at 12.29pm, with the call lasting some nine minutes.

Surprisingly, however, an official map that shows how events unfolded on the day shows that at 12.26 – the time of the first call – the boat had just crossed from the Libyan SAR zone to the Maltese SAR zone. Dr Jammo claimed that the Italians had wasted two hours only to advise him at around 1pm to call RCC Malta as the boat was in Malta’s Search and Rescue area. Thus, the Italians could have ‘waited’ for the boat to enter Malta’s jurisdiction and Malta would be tasked with coordinating the mission. On the other hand, with people in serious danger one asks if Malta needed to be given a ‘legal’ handover before acting, with fingers now pointed at the hesitation on behalf of Italy and Malta.

However, Malta would have only been responsible to coordinate the rescue mission, and any assets in the area – merchant and military – could have been dispatched to help. It is known that two merchant ships – the Stadt Bremenhaven and the Tyrusland, as well as the Italian warship ITS Libra, were a few kilometres away. A message to mariners, known as a Hydrolant message, was sent to NAVTEX devices on board ships in the Eastern Mediterranean, informing them that a boat with many migrants on board required assistance. However, for some reason the merchant ships and the Libra did not respond to this call. When the message was sent at 1.34pm, the migrant boat had been in Malta’s SAR zone for more than an hour.

 

Italy was still running the show at time of Hydrolant broadcast

But it is understood that, because of procedural reasons, Malta effectively took charge ‘legally’ of the operation at 2pm. The first of two Hydrolant messages broadcast on the day seems to verify this. It read: “Reports to RCC Rome”, indicating that the Italian Rescue Coordination Centre was still running things. The second Hydrolant message, which was sent out after the migrant boat capsized read: “Reports to RCC Malta or RCC Rome.”

This paper has also learnt that the Maltese King Air SAR plane left Malta at around 3pm, not more than an hour after Malta took over the mission coordination. The plane spotted the migrant boat at around 4pm. This is plausible because the plane can travel at around 330km/h and the migrant boat was 220km away.

According to the AFM press release issued on 11 October, and Brigadier Martin Xuereb in a recent interview in this paper, the boat capsized a few minutes later. This is where the Italian and Maltese versions diverge again. Admiral Angrisano stated in his letter to L’Espresso that Malta informed Italy that the boat had capsized and requested help at 5.07pm. This could either mean that someone in Italy or Malta got the time all mixed up or that Malta waited for a whole hour before finally asking for help.

 

Facts point towards hesitation by Italy and Malta

One plausible theory that could explain what happened is a political dispute between Malta and Italy. Dr Jammo insists that he first got through to the Italians at 11am. At this time the migrant boat was inside the Libyan SAR zone, which is not well patrolled. Besides, according to Dr Jammo, the Libyans had fired on the migrant boat, so a Libyan rescue was probably out of the question. The Italian ITS Libra and Guardia Costiera and Guardia di Finanza boats stationed in Lampedusa were the closest assets and could have been sent to help. They could have reached the migrant boat in about an hour-and-a-half. But the lack of orders for them to do so by Italy could signify a refusal by Rome to get involved. The Armed Forces of Malta, on the other hand have never clarified if they asked for help from the Italians. It is understood that the general feeling of the Maltese authorities is that Italy was reluctant to help the migrants.

This theory is further strengthened by what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said a few days ago on TV show Xarabank, when he implied that there was some sort of dispute as to who would rescue the migrants. Dr Muscat told the presenter that he had received a call from the AFM commander: “What are we going to do because according to 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.”

 

Malta, Italy and Libya could face court action over tragedy

Over the past few weeks, both Italy and Malta have been blamed for the tragedy that could have been avoided while Libya has never denied claims that its military had shot at the migrants’ boat. The two European countries managed to save more than 200 Syrian refugees from the sea, but another 270 people lost their lives. Much of what happened on that fateful day remains shrouded in mystery, with Italy and Malta both refusing to divulge any details that can exculpate them from any wrongdoing. And it is now expected that the Maltese and Italian governments will face some kind of court action from Syria. Yet, it would still be very unlikely for any information to surface during possible court proceedings unless Italy and Malta decide to do away with their long-standing relationship and officially point fingers at each other.

 

EU will debate the issue come June

In the meantime, as L’Espresso reports: “EU Heads of State or Government, who met in Brussels on October 24-25 for the European Council meeting, had no declarations to make regarding the fact that of the 268 people who died during the shipwreck on October 11th off the southern coast of Lampedusa, only 26 bodies have been recovered while rescuing the survivors. The other 242 bodies of fathers, mothers and children, some only a few months old, have been abandoned at sea along with the wreckage, much to the despair of their families – many of whom are citizens of or reside in the European Union.”

Working closely with this newspaper, L’Espresso is trying to establish the facts that led to the shipwreck and the death of so many children and parents alike. From eyewitness accounts, L’Espresso has established that “in addition to those on deck, about a hundred sub-Saharan refugees had been locked in the hold so as to go unnoticed by the Syrians while boarding”. This again throws more pressure on the international community to find ways on how to deal with the immigration issues from the point of departure, manly in Libya, something which till now has not proved to have given any results.