Armed Forces rescue another hundred migrants from sinking boat
● AFM personnel find two corpses on vessel
100 migrants were yesterday rescued from a sinking boat by the Armed Forces of Malta. When the P52 patrol boat arrived at the scene the crew also found two corpses on the sinking vessel.
The boat was intercepted some 68 nautical miles south of Malta.
Malta’s Rescue Coordination Centre was notified about the case early in the morning and the AFM vessel was immediately dispatched to the rescue.
The P52 patrol berthed at the AFM’s Maritime Squadron base at Hay Wharf at around 1.30pm. The migrants were sent for processing as soon as they disembarked. The two corpses, which had by then been placed inside white body bags, were taken away in a hearse.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Malta had adhered to its international obligations.
Opposition Leader Adrian Delia praised the AFM personnel. “Courage bravery & dedication is part of everyday life for our men and women in uniform,” e said, adding that Malta was doing “more than its fair share.”
He said the government needed to press harder for Europe to share responsibility as we cannot be left alone.
Sea-Watch – one of three NGOs with rescue ships impounded in Malta – thanked the Maltese ‘navy’ for rescuing 100 people from drowning but asked: “Will Joseph Muscat also seize their (the AFM) ship for saving lives?”
Yesterday’s operation was one of several migrant rescues carried out by the AFM over the past two weeks.
19 migrants were saved in an rescue operation on 22 July. The AFM rescued 114 migrants from a sinking boat on 13 August, and another group of 35 people on 15 August.
On 18 August the AFM saved another 61 people from a vessel in difficulty some 71 nautical miles south of Malta.
Meanwhile, the latest European migration crisis was far from over yesterday, with Italy still barring 171 migrants from disembarking from one of its coast guard vessels in Catania. The Diciotti vessel was at the centre of the latest standoff between Malta and Italy, with both countries refusing to allow the ship entry into their ports.
Italy claimed that the migrants were in distress, in Maltese search and rescue waters. Malta insisted that the migrants were not in distress and, even if they were, the closest safe port was Lampedusa. After spending a number of days stranded off Lampedusa, the vessel docket at Catania in Sicily, but the migrants are now being allowed to disembark. Italian Home Affairs Matteo Salvini said the migrants would be kept on board until the European Commission reached a migrant sharing agreement between the member states. A number of humanitarian NGOs have urged Italy to reconsider its position and allow the migrants to disembark.
Salvini has repeatedly claimed that Malta was not fulfilling its commitments to a previous redistribution mechanism established by the Italian authorities.
Reacting, the Maltese government yesterday insisted that it has always adhered to international laws and applicable conventions when it comes to rescuing migrants at sea, the government of Malta stressed in a statement Wednesday morning.
“The Maltese authorities have already been in contact with the Italian authorities to fulfil their pledged commitments as soon as possible. Nevertheless, the Italian authorities have not provided any tangible procedure for Malta to follow.
“On the other hand, the government noted that Italy has unfortunately not yet fulfilled its commitments on the redistribution mechanism which was initiated by Malta with respect to the immigrants disembarked in Malta on board of the MV Lifeline on 27 June, “despite the efforts of the Maltese authorities to complete this process with the Italian authorities”.
Malta insisted it “always participated in solidarity mechanisms and was the first European Union member state to fulfil its commitments with regard to the European Commission’s solidarity mechanism with respect to Italy and Greece”.