More illegal immigrants land in Malta

A battered seven-metre fishing boat carrying 60 illegal immigrants, including seven women, was towed into Anchor Bay in Mellieha by the Armed Forces yesterday after attempting to land at Wied Iz-Zurrieq.

A total of 912 illegal immigrants arrived in Malta in the first nine months this year. At the end of last month, some 220 illegal immigrants were repatriated, bringing the number down to about 600.

The AFM said that at around 11 a.m., the police informed the AFM operations centre of reports that a boat with suspected illegal immigrants on board had been spotted near Filfla.

An AFM helicopter (Aluoette III) and AFM patrol boat were immediately dispatched to investigate and confirmed that an unmarked boat was one mile off Wied iz-Zurrieq.

At about midday, the AFM patrol boat was alongside the foreign boat, which refused to proceed inland and changed course towards Ghar Lapsi, the AFM said.

An attempt to disembark at around 12.30 p.m., accompanied by a patrol boat, a search-and-rescue vessel and the helicopter was aborted due to rough seas and the boat was towed into Anchor Bay instead of Wied iz-Zurrieq, arriving over two hours later.

At around 3 p.m., the illegal immigrants were disembarked in no time at Anchor Bay by policemen and the AFM. They were immediately escorted to police headquarters after being given food and medical care. They were all found to be in good health.

Most are from Egypt, Somalia and Ethiopia, while two are Eritreans and one man is from Djibouti, the police said.

They are being held at Lyster Barracks in Hal Far and at police headquarters.