Army photo lends credibility to migrants' account, UNHCR spokesman says

The Armed Forces of Malta yesterday released a photograph to prove there were only five Eritreans on board a dinghy when it was intercepted in the Libyan search and rescue area a week ago.

"The image clearly shows the excellent and clean state the intercepted rubber dinghy was in as well as the good state of the occupants," the AFM said.

Commenting on the photo, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Laura Boldrini said it gave more credibility to what the Eritreans were saying: that they were the only survivors of a group of 78 immigrants who left Libya 20 days earlier.

The group - two men, a woman and two teenage boys - said the others had starved to death or died of thirst and were thrown overboard.

Mystery still shrouds the rescue of these Eritreans. While they claimed the Maltese soldiers gave them fuel, food and water and refused to take them on board, the AFM insisted it was the migrants who did not want to be brought to Malta. When contacted, Ms Boldrini said the photo did not show the migrants were in good spirits or in good health. She did not comment on the fact that the boat looked clean.

"The boat, according to the photo, seems to be 12 metres long. On March16, 67 arrived in Lampedusa on a 10-metre dinghy like this one. On April 4, 70 migrants arrived on another 10-metre dinghy and, three days later, another 12-metre dinghy arrived in Lampedusa with 75 people on board. This picture shows how, when seen in the context of previous arrivals, it was possible that 80 people were on board this boat and it wouldn't have been the first time," she said.

Ms Boldrini said the Eritrean story was credible: "I don't know what the AFM is trying to prove with this picture. The survivors told us they did not refuse help. They were given fuel but got no reply when they asked to be taken on board the AFM patrol boat".

She said she did not know whether it was the Eritreans or the Maltese authorities who were telling the truth. "It is important the investigation is concluded as soon as possible so we can know what really happened," she said.

As Malta and Italy continue to squabble over this incident, an AFM patrol boat escorted a boatload of Eritrean migrants to Lampedusa in the early hours of Tuesday morning after providing them with water, food and life jackets. These migrants also refused to be brought to Malta.

The Italian authorities are accusing Malta of denying rescue to the five migrants who made it to Lampedusa last week, an accusation both the government and the AFM rebut.