Six of them were intercepted at Playa Grande in the morning, while the other eight were intercepted at Marina di Ragusa in the afternoon.

The Italian police suspect that the Chinese illegal immigrants were ferried to Playa Grande from Malta, in the latest episode of human trafficking from Malta to Sicily.

In fact, this is the second landing of Chinese illegal immigrants on the Ragusa coast in less than four days. On 2 October, 32 illegal immigrants landed between Torre del Mezzo and Marina di Ragusa.

Twenty-two said they were Chinese (eight of whom were women), and the other 10 claimed to be Egyptians, Iraqis and Palestinians.

On 11 June, two Maltese men – Tony Gauci, 48, and 37-year-old Emanuel Seychell – were caught in Pozzallo after allegedly ferrying four Chinese illegal immigrants from Malta to Sicily on board a yacht called Adelina.

Another seven Chinese immigrants were intercepted at Punta di Mola on 31 July.

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