An Italian frigate is on its way to Porto Empedocle after it was refused permission to enter Maltese territorial waters to land rescued migrants here.

The frigate Spica picked up the group of 69 migrants off Lampedusa last night and by this morning was at the edge of Maltese territorial waters awaiting orders after Malta's refusal to assume responsibility for the migrants.

Malta insisted, as it did previously, that the nearest port where the migrants should have been taken to was Lampedusa.

The migrants include 16 women.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told the Italian media yesterday that over the past week, Italy repatriated to Libya over 500 migrants rescued from the sea, adding that this could be the solution to the migration problem.

“This is an important shift, even if not something absolutely new, but a decisive step in our approach to Libya, the departure point of 90 per cent of the illegal immigrants who disembark at Lampedusa. By stopping the haemorrhage from Libya, we can say that the wound of illegal immigration has been solved. It was not easy,” he said.

Meanwhile, PBS has quoted the head of the Malta Detention Service, Lt Col Brian Gatt, as saying that a camp at Ta’ Kandia near the police SAG compound, has been turned into a reception centre where the migrants will be taken to before being assigned to a detention centre. Officials at the reception centre will question the migrants and conduct health checks.