Migrant lost at sea as 59 are rescued

A total of 59 illegal immigrants were brought ashore in two groups yesterday after being rescued by the armed forces.

The first batch consisted of 28 migrants from Sudan, including two women. They reported that one of their group, a man, fell overboard and was lost at sea before they were rescued. Valletta Port Control, operated by the Armed Forces of Malta, received a call at about 4.30 a.m. from the motor vessel Nordmark, saying that a number of migrants, located about 12 miles south east of Malta, were in distress.

The AFM dispatched the Melita 1 rescue launch to look for the migrants, who were found just before 6 a.m. on a grey fibreglass boat. They were taken aboard the launch and disembarked at Haywharf Maritime base where they were handed over to Superintendent Neville Xuereb, from the Police Immigration Section., in the presence of Lt. Col Brian Gatt, commander of the Detention Service.

The group, who say they are from conflict-ridden southern Darfur, claimed they had been at sea for 10 days but sources close to the army said this was highly unlikely considering they were in a rather good state.

At Haywharf, the migrants told the media, including the BBC and Channel 4, that a man went overboard and was not found.

The other group of 31 male immigrants, of different nationalities, was taken on board an AFM patrol boat yesterday afternoon and landed at Marsaxlokk. These latest arrivals have pushed the number of immigrants in detention centres up to close to 800 with more than 1,700 asylum seekers and refugees being housed in open centres.