Home Affairs Minister spells out Malta's version to Italian audience

Italy did not need Malta's Search and Rescue area because it already had enough responsibility in taking care of its own zone, the Home Affairs Minister told an Italian radio audience yesterday.

Speaking during a morning talk show on Radio Rai Uno, Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici reiterated the government's position that the latest incident involving five Eritrean migrants was unrelated to the size of Malta's SAR and the country's capabilities to administer it.

The minister ruled out any reduction in the SAR area, as suggested by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini over the last few days. He described the area as Malta's "territorial patrimony".

"Frattini's argument is completely mistaken," he said, reacting to a previous comment by the Italian minister on the same show that Malta's SAR was the size of Italy when the country was only as big as a Roman suburb.

The two were among the several guests who spoke over the phone during the show. Overall, the two ministers remained calm throughout.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici, who spoke in Italian, insisted Italy did not need Malta's SAR "unless there were ulterior motives", which he did not elaborate on.

He also cast doubts on the version of events recounted by the five Eritrean migrants picked up by the Italian coastguard: that 73 other people on board the same dinghy died after they got lost at sea for 20 days.

"We have our doubts as to whether the tragedy did happen or whether it is being confused with some other incident," Dr Mifsud Bonnici insisted.

He said the doubts were made public over the weekend but the Italian media chose not to report them.

The minister said no judicial inquiry was launched in Malta because the alleged tragedy did not happen in its SAR but in Libya's where Maltese courts had no jurisdiction.

Mr Frattini stopped short of saying whether the behaviour of a Maltese patrol boat, which provided the five migrants with food, water and fuel and escorted them towards Lampedusa, was illicit or not and said it was a matter for the Agrigento investigative authorities to establish.

"We do not want to force an independent country to reduce its area of responsibility but what will happen when another incident occurs," Mr Frattini asked.

Prompted by the radio host, Mr Frattini ruled out calling for sanctions against Malta in the wake of this incident.

He then directed his criticism towards the EU, insisting not enough was being done to tackle the issue of illegal immigration on a European-wide basis. Immigration was not an Italian or Maltese problem, he said, but a European one.

The government's position against any reduction in the SAR area also found the unconditional backing of the opposition, with Labour leader Joseph Muscat insisting Malta should not give in to pressure being exerted by Italy.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com