Malta is not responsible for the two irregular migration incidents taking place south of the islands this weekend, Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday while giving the government’s “correct” version of events.
The AFM, meanwhile, is monitoring the intents of the Spanish tugboat carrying 26 migrants it picked up on Saturday. The tug’s coordinates as of yesterday evening were 60 miles south of Malta heading northwest with an apparent bearing for Spain.
But while the vessel appeared to be heading away from Malta, Dr Borg stressed, “the situation is fluid and subject to change”.
He also emphasised that both groups of migrants picked up this weekend were well within Libya’s search and rescue (SAR) zone.
In two highly publicised cases, on Friday a group of 24 irregular migrants clung for at least 24 hours to two tuna cages being towed by a Maltese trawler, the Budafel, while a Spanish tug boat, the Mont Falco, picked up another 26 migrants on Saturday.
At the time of the incidents, both the Budafel and the Mont Falco were respectively 23 and 17 miles outside Malta’s SAR zone, Dr Borg and Armed Forces of Malta Brigadier Carmel Vassallo confirmed yesterday.
While both incidents are similar in nature, the more striking resemblance is that both took place in Libya’s SAR zone and, despite continuous efforts from Malta, Italy and Spain, no assistance was to be found from the Libyan authorities.
Communications by telephone and fax between the AFM and the Libyan authorities had been on-going over the weekend and as early as Friday afternoon, the Maltese authorities had asked Libya to assume coordination of rescue efforts. The Maltese ambassador in Tripoli, as well as the Libyan ambassador in Malta, were contacted in order to press Libya to take action.
“Both incidents occurred far within Libya’s search and rescue zone,” Dr Borg explained yesterday. “One concerned Malta to a certain extent, as a Maltese vessel was involved, while the other had nothing to do with Malta.”
He also confirmed that, as of yesterday evening, Malta had not received any formal request from Spain to intervene in the case of the Spanish tug, or to allow the migrants it is carrying to land in Malta. The situation on board is said to not be life threatening.
Dr Borg added: “The AFM has risked many lives in rough seas and strong winds this year in order to save many lives – lives that would have been lost were it not for the AFM’s efforts.
“Malta already has a large search and rescue zone, which at some points goes as far south as 90 miles, and for us to go beyond that would be a bit too much.”
While the details of how the migrants found themselves clinging to the Budafel’s cages are somewhat sketchy, it is thought that at some point they grabbed hold of two tuna cages as they passed by, after which their vessel sank. They were eventually picked up by the Italian offshore patrol vessel, the Orione, and disembarked in Lampedusa.
As to why the migrants were left clinging to the tuna cages for such a long time and not let on board the Maltese trawler, Dr Borg explained the Budafel is a private vessel and, as such, its master is responsible for making an assessment of the situation and acting accordingly. The AFM informed the Maltese trawler that if the migrants were in danger, they would have to take them on board by virtue of international law.
In a separate incident, on Saturday a Spanish trawler picked up 26 migrants thought to be from the Ivory Coast 17 miles outside Malta’s SAR zone and appeared at one point to have been heading for Malta.
While acknowledging the similarity of this and last summer’s Spanish trawler standoff, Dr Borg said of Saturday’s rescue: “This had nothing to do with Malta. It was outside Malta’s search and rescue zone and it was not even a Maltese vessel.”