"Whenever we find the body of a child or a woman, especially pregnant, the crew's mood drops"
This summer's illegal immigrants tend to be in better health than in previous years and more safety measures seem to have been taken in their regard, suggesting that the human traffickers have become more organised, according a captain in the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta.
Captain James Grech, who has worked on illegal immigration patrol operations for the last five years, says most of the immigrants who were rescued or have landed on Malta have been in relatively good health, wore lifejackets and their boats have been equipped with a global positioning system and compasses.
In contrast, most of those rescued since 2001, when Malta started experiencing a heavy influx of illegal immigrants, were "weak" on arrival, he said. They tended to get lost at sea on ill-equipped boats, with very few, if any, wearing life jackets.
Capt. Grech notes that the better safety measures suggest that the human trafficking business is becoming more organised.
He also notes, however, that this year there has also been an increase in the use of big rubber dinghies that are far more dangerous than fibreglass boats because they can burst and are more likely to take in water. One of the two groups of immigrants brought in yesterday were rescued trying to cross the Mediterranean on an inflatable boat that started to take in water.
The number of illegal immigrant arrivals this year has set a record. "Our Maritime Squadron crews barely had a moment of rest," he says.
Figures released by the police show that, by last Tuesday, 1,801 illegal immigrants had landed, 1,595 of whom were male and 209 female.
The number already exceeds the total number that entered in 2004 "when the highest number of persons who arrived since this phenomenon started was experienced," the police said adding that the majority of the immigrants are Somalis.
Another change this year was the number of women on board the boats. In particular, there have been more pregnant women. Two pregnant women, one heavily so, were rescued by the AFM only two days ago in need of medical attention.
When an AFM patrol vessel approaches a boatful of immigrants, the women are generally huddled in the middle, possibly to allow them to shelter from the sun. In fact, many immigrants, though generally healthy, show signs of sunburn and dehydration.
There have been no shortage of tragedies. In one of the worst of late, a pregnant woman was lost at sea but was later picked up by a cargo ship suffering from severe breathlessness, only to die before an AFM doctor managed to reach her.
"While AFM crew members are used to seeing dead bodies at sea, whenever we find the body of a child or a woman, especially pregnant, the crew's mood drops," the young AFM captain says.
Once the AFM patrol boat approaches the immigrants, the best drill is to send over an AFM dinghy - equipped with food and water.
"Chances are that, if we approach with the patrol boat, they will move to one side to get onboard or speak to us, and the boat will capsize." Early contacts that did not follow this drill had resulted in capsized boats with some migrants nearly drowning.
"During any rescue mission, the challenge is to keep them calm... many of these illegal immigrants can't swim, so capsizing risks are minimised by our drill procedure. Water and food help them keep calm."
The majority of the immigrants greet them with enthusiasm and communication is usually not a problem because there is always someone who speaks English.
On approaching a boat, the AFM evaluate its state, the health condition of the migrants, and the weather forecast.
If the migrants choose to continue their journey, an AFM patrol boat monitors them to ensure they leave the northern periphery of the Maltese search and rescue region safely.
"Generally they don't want to come to Malta," he says. But when they are in distress, they ask to be rescued. Trouble-makers are rare and most sleep on the way to Malta.