Mark Micallef
Unexplained gaps in search for missing migrants
The Armed Forces of Malta have failed to say why they did not deploy any assets on Thursday in the search for 70 migrants said to have been lost at sea the day before when their boat capsized.
Searches carried out by a German helicopter and an AFM patrol boat yesterday proved futile.
Eight survivors, who were plucked out of the water by a Maltese fishing vessel, the Madonna di Pompei, from a semi-submerged dinghy 70 kilometres off Malta on Wednesday, said there were as many as 70 more people with them aboard the dinghy, among them pregnant women and children.
Yet, the only aircraft involved in the search has been a German helicopter, which was diverted from a Frontex mission. The AFM's fixed winged aircraft previously reported to be a part of the search was not actually looking for potential survivors but was covering the patrol course of the diverted chopper and no other aircraft has been diverted for this search since Tuesday.
Even when the helicopter developed a technical fault and was grounded throughout Thursday morning, there was no other aircraft assigned to the search.
As to seaborne resources, an AFM patrol boat was only involved in the search on Wednesday and again yesterday, allowing a whole day to pass by with only the German helicopter searching the area from the air.
Asked to explain this apparent shortcoming, a spokesman for the AFM gave a detailed account of the rescue operation from the minute the alarm was raised by the fishing vessel which found the migrants, but at no point offered an explanation.
The patrol boat which picked up the survivors from the Madonna di Pompei scoured the area on the way to the fishing vessel and back but again, it was the only vessel actively searching the area where the migrants' dinghy was said to have capsized.
The helicopter spotted five bodies in the area, three on Tuesday and another two on Wednesday afternoon, but there were no signs of life.
Even the number of people aboard the dinghy is a controversial matter as the army claims that the migrants never said to them that there were 78 people originally aboard when it left Libya.
In its original statement, in fact, the army put the number of missing migrants at 10, pointing out yesterday that the figure came from the information they received from the fishing vessel and the rescued migrants.
Yet, when contacted, the captain of the vessel said the migrants had claimed all along that there were 78 people originally on the boat.
"They were in very poor shape," he said. "One of them even said he lost his pregnant wife, poor fellow... all of them said there were 70 more people out at sea."
The number would make the tragedy one of the biggest in recent years. In fact, the United Nations refugee Agency UNHCR yesterday said it was shocked at the loss of life, urging governments to get to the root causes of the problem.
The agency even called for the migrants to be released from detention immediately in view of their bad psychological state. However the Justice Ministry yesterday insisted that the migrants had to go through the set procedure before being assessed as "vulnerable persons" and thus released.
The migrants had been put into detention after interrogation.
The local representative for the UNHCR, Neil Falzon, said that the high commission had long been calling for a review of Malta's detention policy, especially with regard to vulnerable people, insisting that the migrants rescued last Wednesday were particularly traumatised and needed to be released and treated.
"We are especially calling for the release of the 15-year-old boy who is being held at Ħal Far. He should not have been put in detention in the first place. He can hardly talk and stand," Mr Falzon said.
Mr Falzon said the UNHCR had made arrangements, through an NGO, for a psychologist to visit him. He said the boy was feeling very lonely and was asking to, at least, be reunited with the other survivors, who are being held at Safi detention centre.
The ministry, however, said all illegal immigrants who were rescued or intercepted at sea or who land in Malta are adequately examined and treated by medics soon after they land and given any medical assistance required.
"As per standard procedure established with Médecins Sans Frontières, these eight immigrants were first screened and treated upon arrival on Wednesday. This was then followed up by another examination by an MSF doctor and a visit by an MSF psychologist on Thursday morning.
A further visit by the same psychologist was carried out this morning. The Ministry will be acting on the advice of the MSF psychologist in the further handling of this matter," the ministry said.
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L Galea
Aug 30th 2008, 21:50
@ M. Mercieca
The EU consequences cannot be worse than we are already having old boy.
Anyway, a pair of strong hands ought to know how to tell the EU to tell it to the marines, doesn't he?
Joe Sammut
Aug 30th 2008, 19:49
It's again very easy to apportion blame on the AFM for those keyboard warriors & other general do-gooders! Nobody is pointing at an obviously inadequate border control from the Libyan coast, an oil-rich nation! Now that UN sanctions are down over Lockerbie and their shedding Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction manufacture, everybody wants to do business with Libya given the global energy crises or unreliable fuel sources in the Middle East.
France is thinking of selling weapons, Italy is negotiating repatriation of illegal migrants, and we're a small petty nation in the middle sitting pretty of it all, doing nothing tangible & long lasting. Malta is inexcusably the European sole-onoited sentinel of the southern central Mediterranean, and is fast becoming like the Brussels' mandated Guantanamo Bay detention camp of the continent.
Help is tangibly lacking big time on the local scene in near zero foreign FRONTEX assets too. They just sign expense cheques for AFM operations, little considering the lack of assets closer to home for our own emergencies (& SIMSHAR is NOT one of them!!). Wear on soldiers and vessels is at near breaking point, & it doesn't bother the Government in the least!
joe azzopardi
Aug 30th 2008, 19:30
well done to the crew of madonna ta pompei,
now its about time we give the search and rescue service to the xlokkajri seems they are good at it or a matter of luck they seem to be in the right place and time when needed
Joanne Micallef
Aug 30th 2008, 19:24
@ Joseph Calleja - How is the Cotonou agreement irrelevant to us aren’t Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria signatories of the agreement?
M. Gatt
Aug 30th 2008, 17:43
@ V Calleja
I agree 100% with your comments. Well said.
The tragedy is the AFM's fault now! Incredible!
L Galea
Aug 30th 2008, 17:04
@M. Mercieca
Should the EU try to interfere the Government ought to tell them to show some solidarity and take the illegal immigrants themselves.
However, don't even try to mention the word Solidarity in the EU.
The word only existed in Poland to serve a specific purpose.
D Gill
Aug 30th 2008, 16:34
Charles Sammut, it is true that as a country we face a serious problem which I am worried about, but I am truly sickened by your comments and lack of humanity.
Joseph Caruana
Aug 30th 2008, 16:05
@ Joanne Micallef
The Cotonou agreement is pretty irrelevant in our case.
Apart from the fact that a good part of the illegal immigrants that come here hail from countries that are not party to it, Malta's problem is that these come without documents and you CAN NEVER send someone anywhere without documents, be it the EU or their home country.
To make matters worse, unless they are given refugee or humanitarian protection, official documents can only be issued by the country they are citizens of - through an embassy or consulate. Unfortunately most African countries do not have diplomatic relations with Malta, and this further slows down and lengthens this process.
V. Calleja
Aug 30th 2008, 15:59
"Agency UNHCR yesterday said it was shocked at the loss of life, urging governments to get to the root causes of the problem" Can we stop the rhetoric and get down to basics. The root causes of the problem lie in the tragic situation that has gripped Africa for ages while the International Community---yes the United Nations - fiddled as as massacres went on in Ruwanda, Darfour, Somalia etc. WE know that the source for this shameful and tragic human trafficung is Libya.
So please UNHCR. Give us a break. Use all your clout as a UN agency and do tackle the problem at its roots. The UN and its agencies should stop accommodating African despots and clamp down on human trafficking if they want ot be credible and justify the millions of dollars they are guzzling without any tangible results.
Lives are being lost here and the apathy and inefficiency of the UN and its agencies are one of the major deficiencies in this tragic state of affairs
Raymond Sammut
Aug 30th 2008, 15:20
@ M. Mercieca
" ... we would face unpleasant consequences from the EU."
Why are you so concerned about these "unpleasant consequences"?
D. Zammit
Aug 30th 2008, 14:32
The UNHCR should though United Nations agencies help Malta send the illegal immigrants back to their country OR ELSE, give them a refugee status and find a host country for them.
Surely, out small island nation cannot take any more. If Mr Falzon cannot realise this, then why continue to help . . . after all, whatever we do seems to be never enough for certain people.
Joanne Micallef
Aug 30th 2008, 12:49
As much as I criticize the goverment for his passive stance I cannot not point out that repatriation can only happen if the country of origin accepts back the person concerned. Unfortunately even though most of the African nations have signed the Cotonou agreement many are those which fail to respect their obligations and refuse the migrant back in their country.
That is why the only way the EU can ever solve this crises is by coming to an agreement with places like Egypt, Tunisia and if possible Libya to open reception centres where all asylum applications can be handled and those grated asylum to be safely shipped or flown to the EU. These centres can also work as employment offices for vacancies within the EU were all migrants including those refused asylum can apply. Like this Europe will be able to employ the extra man power needed to support the economy, and the citizens will be assured that all those who enter the country have legal means to support themselves. Needless to say in order to curb abuse harsh penalties must be given to all those caught in Europe illegally.
Charles sammut
Aug 30th 2008, 12:12
Calls to spare so called vulnerable people from detention are counter-productive. What it will do is sharply increase the sumber of "vulnerable persons" who come over in boats.
We have already seen the effects of this mistaken policy with a considerable increase in the number of pregnant women and children arriving this year. Most of these women get pregnant on purpose before they set out on the sea crossing so that they will get 'out of jail free' on landing in Malta. Same with minors whose age can never be determined.
The value that we place on human life is very different to the one these people hold. And they know it and take advantage of it at our great expense. This price is more social than monetary.
M. Mercieca
Aug 30th 2008, 11:43
The 15-year-old boy who is being held at Ħal Far must be released immediately with no further delay. Falling to do so, we would face unpleasant consequences from the EU.
P Debono
Aug 30th 2008, 11:09
I am sick of the media's portrayal of these illegals as some prisoners in a cage once they arrive in Malta. One simple look at the photos of these illegals shows them being clean-shaven, wearing 2 layers of clothing and sometimes smiling. Hardly a "very very poor shape".
Michelle Dali
Aug 30th 2008, 09:59
During the detention period illegal immigrants should be processed and sent back to where they came from instead of being allowed to remain in Malta on release. Allowing them to stay on is only encouraging more people to come into the country by this dangerous and illegal route.
L Galea
Aug 30th 2008, 09:13
Mr Falzon@UNHCR
Detention should not be removed, but extended until the illegal immigrants decide to go back.