Malta's stand 'vindicated' in migrants' trawler case

Spain agreed yesterday to send a military plane to Malta today to take most of the 51 illegal immigrants on board a Spanish trawler off Malta, Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo said yesterday.

A pregnant woman and another woman and her infant, who were transported to Malta to receive medical attention on Tuesday afternoon, will remain here for the time being.

Five Moroccans in the group will be repatriated at the expense of the European Commission. The deal was struck with the cooperation of the European Union.

Dr Frendo said Malta stood its ground in this affair and its stand has been vindicated. "Europe has finally realised our limits. This has been an example of collaboration and how such a burden can be shared," he said.

Giuseppe Dura, the 39-year old captain of the Spanish trawler Francesco Catalina, yesterday recounted how he encountered a boat full of immigrants in international waters some 113 miles off Libya and 100 miles off Malta last Friday.

The immigrants told The Times they had left from Libya on July 10. A 24-year-old man known only by his first name Amanisi, one of the few English speaking migrants on board, said he left Eritrea a year ago, went to Ethiopia, then to Sudan and later to Libya.

There he met other immigrants and asked around to find a boat. Each of the immigrants paid $1,200 to buy the boat, equipped with a 50hp outboard engine. They were told that, at most, it would take them three days to reach Italy.

But the engine stalled some time after leaving Libya and the boat drifted in the open sea. On Friday, frantic hand waiving attracted the attention of the Spanish trawler crew, who went to assist the immigrants.

"At 1 p.m., I radioed for help on the international distress channel, but there was no reply. At 6 p.m. I decided to call the Spanish rescue centre from my mobile phone to inform them about the issue and diplomatic wrangling started. I convened a meeting with the crew and we decided we could not leave the immigrants alone in their boat, without any lights and adequate shelter or provisions, so we took them on board.

"I knew there would be some problems but I was sure these would be resolved in a day at most. Little did I think I would be raising an international issue on such a scale simply because I rescued people from almost certain death," Captain Dura said. On Saturday night, the trawler asked to enter Malta but permission was refused. It has since been at sea some 18 miles off Malta.

The boat on which the immigrants were travelling is still tied to the fishing vessel. Strewn on it were pieces of bread and biscuits as well as shoes and pieces of clothing. And lots of evidence that sea sickness had taken its toll on these people.

The heat and stench on the trawler were unbearable, even though the vessel has large openings in its sides. The gentle swell made me wonder how people could still be on their feet after having spent so much time at sea in those conditions.

"We did not want to come to Malta," Amanisi told me. "We know it's a small country and a lot of immigrants are landing there. We wanted to go to Europe," he said.

Asked why he did not stay in Ethiopia or Sudan, he said there was no future in those countries. "I left Eritrea because of political and religious oppression. Men aged 20 to 40 have to serve in the army, which is a near certain death. Eritrea and Ethiopia are in constant conflict and the wars are claiming many lives. I did not want my life to end that way, so I left, seeking a better future elsewhere," he said.

An Italian journalist from La Repubblica joined The Times and members of the UNHCR on the Spanish vessel yesterday. A Spanish television crew also boarded the boat later to interview the fishermen and some of the immigrants.

Addressing a press conference related to illegal immigration in Brussels yesterday, before the dispute was solved, European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said he was optimistic that a solution, even if temporary, could be found in the spirit of "European solidarity".

"I am in constant contact with the Spanish, Maltese and Italian authorities, at the highest level to try too find a solution. This is a test case on how we handle this sort of situation," he said.

Asked whether it was also a test case for Libya, given that it is increasingly standing out as the missing link in regional cooperation on the matter, Mr Frattini agreed, cautioning diplomatically that Libya never excluded cooperation.

"But, yes, Libya is a very important factor in this issue," he said.

Dr Frendo insisted that the vessel had picked up illegal immigrants in Libya's search and rescue area and, therefore, Malta was under no obligation to take them in.

The Jesuit Refugee service said the drama unfolding on board the Spanish fishing vessel reflected "a very disturbing trend among EU states to place border control considerations above human solidarity and respect for basic human rights, which they are bound by law to respect".

"We are very concerned that the migrants are still stranded on board the boat that rescued them," said JRS director Fr Paul Pace.

"We urge the authorities to allow the immigrants stranded on board the Spanish trawler to land at least until a final decision is taken regarding their fate and to ensure that any decision taken is in line with Malta's international legal obligations.

"We reiterate the 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 to protection.

"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 that have not signed the 1951 Convention, and have no procedures in place to determine applications for protection, " Fr Pace said.

In the meantime, the police said another 29 immigrants were rounded up after landing at Ghar Lapsi at about 6 p.m. yesterday.