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The Home Affairs Ministry said today that it would be illegal for Malta to rescue migrants from a boat against their express wishes and if they were not in imminent danger of loss of life.

The Ministry was reacting to a statement issued in the morning by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, who reiterated his call for an investigation into an incident which took place in August when a dinghy allegedly drifted for some 20 days without being given any assistance, leading to heavy loss of life.

The Commissioner made public letters he had sent to both Malta and Italy in August, calling for such an investigation, and said he hoped this would rekindle debate on the issue.

The incident that month involving a boat which set off from Libya with more than 70 people on board, mainly Eritreans. The boat was adrift in the Mediterranean Sea for 20 days, without receiving help from several passing vessels. There were only five survivors.

“I publish these letters in order to reopen the discussion on the need to fully align migration practices with human rights standards. This serious incident should be effectively investigated” the Commissioner said.

“Four of the five survivors have been granted refugee status in Italy and one is waiting for the decision on her application. This is good news. However, there is still an urgent need to take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies. Regrettably, the authorities have not replied so far,” he said.

In his letters, sent to the Home Affairs Ministers of the respective countries, the Commissioner underlined that the responsibility to rescue persons at sea appeared to have been neglected.

He recommended that both countries engaged in constructive cooperation to develop sea patrols which were respectful of human rights and humanitarian principles.

MINISTRY'S REACTION

The Ministry of Justice in a reaction said it had already brought the facts related to this case to the attention of Commissioner Hammerberg. The facts were:·

The rubber dinghy carrying 5 persons referred to by the High Commissioner was first spotted on Wednesday 19th August when the said dinghy was well-inside the Search and Rescue zone of Libyan responsibility. The Maltese Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) directed a naval vessel of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) towards it.

Once intercepted, the 5 migrants on board were found to be in good spirits and in good health. More importantly, the persons on board refused to be rescued by the Maltese military vessel and insisted on continuing their voyage towards the northwest and the Italian island of Lampedusa. Their dinghy was in a good condition and seaworthy. An aerial still photograph already published by the AFM of this dinghy clearly showed that there was no evidence that it had been carrying a large number of migrants.

The AFM crew were thus left with no other option other than providing the persons on board the dinghy with any humanitarian assistance that they required. They supplied them with food, water, fuel and lifejackets so as to ensure safety. The dinghy then continued its voyage on its own steam.

The AFM surface vessel continued monitoring the dinghy so as to be in a position to intervene should its occupants require any assistance or rescue. On the morning of Thursday 20th August, as the dinghy was approaching Italian territorial waters, the Maltese authorities informed the Italian authorities through the European Patrolling Network about its presence. The dinghy was then intercepted by a patrol boat of the Italian Guardia di Finanza and its occupants taken ashore to Lampedusa.

The government said that at no time did the AFM patrol boat lose contact with the dinghy from the moment it was intercepted until the immigrants were recovered by the Guardia di Finanza.

It was evident, the ministry said, that the Maltese authorities acted well within their international obligations and standards of conducts at sea. The action taken by the Maltese authorities in this case proved effective since the five occupants in the dinghy that was first spotted all made it to land safely.

“It should also be made absolutely clear that forcefully rescuing the occupants of the dinghy against their express wishes and in the absence of a real and imminent danger of loss of life, would be illegal,” the ministry said.

It said it considered this case closed.