PN MEP Roberta Metsola and PL MEP Miriam Dalli insisted that Malta and her armed forces are not abdicating their responsibilities to save lives at sea, despite the confusion that has ensued about a possible deal between Malta and Italy for the latter to take all migrants saved in the Med.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told journalists on Tuesday that Malta and Italy had come to this informal agreement, which he described as a sign of political maturity. He noted that there were several occasions in the past where the two countries bickered over who should be responsible for the people saved at sea. These tiffs had come to an end, he said. Not more than an hour later, the Ministry issued a “clarification” in which Mr Abela denied that there was any “informal agreement” with Italy and insisted that what existed was only a “close collaboration” between the two countries where Malta uses all its AFM resources to save migrants from the sea.” The government yesterday reiterated this version.

In comments to The Malta Independent, Dr Metsola insisted that if such an agreement existed, the public had a right to know about it. "Like many things with this Labour Government, this is an issue mired in total confusion. Ministers say one thing and then backtrack, take a position one day and then change it the next. We saw it with the infamous pushback attempt and we will see it again,” the PN MEP said.

Dr Metsola said the most important point was that lives were being saved at sea. “Where the people rescued are disembarked afterwards is a secondary issue. There is no suggestion that the AFM has in any abdicated on its responsibility to save lives at sea, on the contrary I have often heard of the tough rescues they are involved together with Frontex, MOAS, MSF and other national navies.

That there is some form of arrangement with Italy to disembark rescued migrants there is something only the Governments of Malta or Italy can confirm. The facts are that migrant arrivals in Malta have decreased hugely with almost every person rescued being disembarked in Italy. The problem is that this Government likes to govern in the shadows with little or no transparency. If there is an agreement, the public have a right to know about it. "

Malta ‘highly involved’ in SAR

PL MEP Miriam Dalli insisted that Malta was “highly involved” in search and rescue operations. "Article 98 of UNCLOS imposes the duty to assist and rescue any persons found at sea who are in danger of being lost or in some sort of distress. Malta is highly involved in search and rescue operations to precisely assist and rescue people in distress out at sea in full compliance with its international obligations."

"Furthermore the good collaboration that exists between Malta and Italy has been corroborated more than once by both the Maltese Prime Minister and the Italian Prime Minister himself in public press conferences which they held together and also in a recent event where Matteo Renzi emphasised the good collaboration that exists between the two countries. This is very different to what used to happen before.”

Dr Dalli said Malta was “punching well above its weight” on this issue and Minister Carmelo Abela made it amply clear that Malta is using all its AFM resources to help save lives at sea and works in conjunction with the Italians.

Minister denies AFM’s lack of action

On Tuesday, this paper remarked that the AFM fleet has remained at anchor in Marsamxett for practically the whole summer. Malta only took in 93 migrants this year. Following the April tragedy, in which some 800 people lost their lives, the AFM was hardly ever involved, at least with its patrol vessels, in any other rescue operations. This can be confirmed from the fact that this newsroom always checked with the AFM whether they were involved in rescue operations and was several times told that “the Italians were handling it.”

In reply, Minister Abela insisted that Malta was totally committed to saving lives at sea and had always accepted calls for assistance by Frontex – the EU’s border agency – though he conceded that Malta might have received less calls this year. Maltese personnel have also recently served in Greece as part of the Frontex mission and others are engaged in Rescue Coordination Centres overseas.

Mr Abela also insisted that SAR assets in the Mediterranean had increased and pointed out that, apart from purchasing two maritime patrol planes and two brand new helicopters (a third has been ordered), will also be taking delivery of the P22 Offshore Patrol Vessel (formerly Irish Navy ship LÉ Aoife) and plans to order a third, brand new OPV.

Migrants for oil rights?

In the meantime, the mystery of the Italy-Malta deal yesterday took another turn after an Italian newspaper claimed that Italy was taking all of Malta’s migrants in return for oil exploration rights.

Il Giornale reported that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has agreed with Joseph Muscat to exchange irregular migrants for oil exploration rights in areas disputed by both Italy and Malta south of Sicily.  The newspaper said that even MOAS, an NGO, was bringing all the migrants it saved to Italy instead of Malta.

In reaction, a MOAS spokesperson said the reason why it had taken the migrants it saved to Italy was because its assistance had been requested by the same country. "MOAS is at the disposal of the rescue coordination centres around the Mediterranean. So far, we have received tasking from the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Rome). In all our rescues, we have been asked to disembark the people we save either directly in Italy or on other vessels bound to Italy."

Government sources yesterday told a section of the press that the report in Il Giornale was ‘completely fabricated.’

On its own part, the government said there was no agreement, formal or informal, with the Italian government about immigration.

“Italy and Malta have been collaborating closely for the past few years to make sure that people are saved at sea. Disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea is always conducted as per applicable international obligations to Malta, and as per respective operational plans in case of participation in Frontex or any other operation. Malta has been devoting 100% of its resources to save immigrants at sea. There are absolutely no discussions or agreements linking migration with oil exploration.

Reports stating the contrary are factually wrong.”