As a Spanish fishing vessel with 51 irregular migrants aboard continues to languish some 15 nautical miles off the Maltese coast, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday called on the Maltese authorities to allow for at least a temporary disembarkation of the migrants.

Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo stood firm, despite mounting international pressure, when contacted by The Malta Independent.

Asked for his reaction to yesterday’s UNHCR call, Dr Frendo commented, “We have always been in favour of burden sharing. In this particular case, a Spanish vessel picked up illegal immigrants outside Malta’s search and rescue area. Malta is taking enough of the burden already.”

The situation began to develop on Friday when a Spanish trawler, the Francisco Catalina, recovered 51 irregular migrants, all thought to be of Eritrean nationality, and attempted to seek permission to land them in Malta. Malta had refused permission on the basis that Malta had not been the territory closest to the point of recovery by the Spanish vessel and that the recovery was undertaken outside Malta’s search and rescue area. The government also argued that the spot at which the migrants had been rescued was closer to Libya than Malta and that the migrants and vessel were in no apparent danger.

Since then, the ship has remained anchored off Malta as diplomatic and legal wrangles continue over what to do with the eight women, two of whom are reported to be pregnant, a baby and 42 men aboard the vessel.

However, at about 4pm the decision was taken to airlift a child and a pregnant woman off the vessel as both needed hospital treatment. The child is understood to have been dehydrated while the woman developed complications. Both have been taken to St Luke’s.

A diplomatic solution to the stalemate in being sought through tripartite negotiations being held between Malta, Spain and Libya.

The UNHCR, however, has warned against the migrants being sent back to Libya, given the fact that the country has not signed the Geneva Refugee Convention and that similar past experiences with the country had led to undesirable results.

Addressing the situation yesterday, UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis commented, “The UNHCR has been in contact with the Maltese authorities to express humanitarian concern for the group, some of whom may be refugees in need of international protection, and to underline the urgent need to disembark them as soon as possible in a place where they can receive assistance.”

While understanding the difficulties and concerns of the Maltese authorities and the “considerable challenges posed by the repeated arrivals of mixed groups of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in various Mediterranean countries,” the UNHCR issued an appeal to governments of the region to provide for, at least, a temporary disembarkation of the 51 people.

“UNHCR is also calling on EU member states to work with and support Malta to find an appropriate solution to this kind of situation in a spirit of solidarity and burden sharing,” Ms Pagonis added.

She also praised the Spanish vessel’s crew for their “humanitarian act” and requested that all relevant authorities “do everything in their power to ensure that the trawler can continue its journey as scheduled as soon as possible and with minimum further disruption”.

The Spanish vessel has been kept under the watch of an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat, the Melita II, an AFM helicopter has lowered provisions in the form of food and water to the vessel and an AFM doctor has carried onboard medical examinations.

The Spanish foreign ministry has offered to lend the assistance of policemen and border control experts to help resolve the impasse and to identify the migrants, but it is not yet known if the government has taken up the offer.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit Refugee Service yesterday issued a statement saying: “We re-iterate UNHCR’s concern that some of the immigrants on board the trawler might be refugees or people in need of international protection and call upon the authorities to ensure that all who wish to apply for protection are allowed effective access to fair asylum procedures to determine their claims.”

“The Maltese government has an obligation to make sure no one is sent, whether directly or indirectly, to a country where there is a risk of ill-treatment or other violations of their human rights. No asylum seeker should be sent to countries which have not signed the 1951 Convention, and have no procedures in place to determine applications for protection,” said Fr Paul Pace SJ.