Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi insisted in Parliament this evening that the government had acted in an ethically, morally and legally correct manner as events unfolded in the case of the MV Pinar E, which rescued 140 migrants off Lampedusa but was refused entry by both Italy and Malta for three days.
The issue was resolved this morning when the migrants were allowed to land in Sicily. Dr Gonzi said the spat had not harmed relations between Malta and Italy.
Dr Gonzi gave an account of how the events unfolded, saying that at 5.10 a.m. on Thursday morning, the Malta Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) was informed by Rome about the presence of a small migrants’ boat 45 miles off Lempedusa. The RCC directed the freighter Pinar E to that position. The ship found 70 migrants on board the boat and picked them up because they were in distress. Later in the day the Pinar picked up some 80 more migrants from a second boat.
Dr Gonzi said the RCC acted in line with its responsibilities to coordinate search and rescue operations in Malta’s search and rescue zone.
The Malta RCC told the master of the Pinar that he was obliged under international law to pick up any people in distress and convey them to the nearest harbour.
“It is an incontrovertible fact that the closest port in this case was Lampedusa,” Dr Gonzi said.
He insisted that contrary to some media reports, the migrants were not in Maltese territorial waters but 114 miles away from Malta.
By 5 p.m. the freighter had picked up all the migrants, including 25 who were injured and all of whom were hungry and thirsty.
The Italian authorities told the Malta RCC that they did not have assets to convey the necessary assistance and the migrants should be taken to Malta because "this event is developing in your SRR, and Lampedusa isn't a safet place”. The Italian authorities also informed the Pinar that it was being refused permission to enter Italian territorial waters.
The ship’s captain pointed out that some of the migrants needed medical treatment and he requested medical supplies from the Italian authorities.
At one time the Italian authorities told the ship to go to Sfax in Tunisia, where it had been due to go in the first place. An Italian navel vessel was also dispatched to make sure that the ship did not enter Italian waters.
The master, in line with his duties under international law, told the Italian authorities that he was still heading for Lampedusa since the migrants needed assistance. The Italian authorities held firm, however, and directed the ship to a position 24 miles off Lampedusa.
On Friday, an Italian helicopter lowered a doctor onto the ship to assess the situation. By Sunday, Italian medical staff were also lowered to the ship to give the necessary treatment. A 15-year-old migrant girl and another two migrants were evacuated to a medical centre in Lampedusa. Italian ships also supplied the Pinar with food and water. The Pinar had meanwhile anchored 17 miles off Lempedusa.
Malta rescue coordination centre continued to insist with Rome that the migrants should be allowed to land at Lampedusa, but the stalemate continued up to Sunday afternoon when, Dr Gonzi said, he spoke by telephone with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Dr Gonzi said he had clarified the facts as they had resulted to him. He explained how Malta was doing its duty in terms of international law and the practice followed for the past years.
“Prime Minister Berlusconi carefully followed what I was telling him. We agreed that our commitment was to maintain and improve the excellent relations between Malta and Italy,” Dr Gonzi said.
At about 11 p.m. on Sunday the Italian rescue authorities formally informed the Malta RCC that the migrants were to be transferred to Italian patrol boats and landed in Italian ports.
Dr Gonzi said that this afternoon he also spoke to EU Commission President Barroso and explained the situation to him.
Dr Gonzi insisted that Malta’s obligation was to coordinate operations within its search and rescue area in terms of the Law of the Sea, the Hamburg Search and Rescue Convention (1979) and the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
Malta, he said, had always observed its international obligations and would continue to do so. That was why migrants were landed in Malta when that was required.
It was important to constantly keep in mind, he said, that this was a human tragedy and the overriding priority was to save lives. It was these beliefs which guided every decision which Malta took
However, while Malta did its duty, it could not act alone and expected support and assistance from those countries who could give it.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said the Opposition agreed with the government’s actions, and human lives and the national interest should come first. It was becoming increasingly apparent that in the migrants' issue, every country sought its own interest and burden sharing was not happening.
He asked if there had been any contact with Libya, since the migrants were likely to have left from there.
Dr Gonzi said he had not been informed of any contact with Libya and could not say they had left from there, since they were closer to Tunisia.
See video below of migrants being landed in Sicily.