Large migrants' boats may have arrived 'by accident'

The three large fishing boats carrying hundreds of illegal immigrants that reached Malta during the past few months may have been en route to Sicily to avoid Lampedusa, according to a senior army officer. Lt Colonel Emanuel Mallia, AFM head of...

The three large fishing boats carrying hundreds of illegal immigrants that reached Malta during the past few months may have been en route to Sicily to avoid Lampedusa, according to a senior army officer. Lt Colonel Emanuel Mallia, AFM head of operations, dismissed the notion that the arrivals constituted some new phenomenon, insisting it was probably more of an “accident” that they landed in Malta.

The reason for the detour to Sicily is unclear, but the AFM believes that the recent disturbances caused by would-be immigrants held in Lampedusa, brought about by the Italian government’s policy of stopping the transfer of illegal immigrants to the mainland, could have contributed.

Col. Mallia spoke to Kurt Sansone. See video above. Full story in The Times.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090310/local/large-boats-may-have-tried-to-avoid-lampedusa

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.