Updated: Migrants rescued off Lampedusa
Italian coastguard vessels last night rescued around 60 migrants on a rubber dinghy some 25 miles south off Lampedusa.
The operation was coordinated by Malta rescue centre after the migrants used a satellite phone to alert the authorities in Italy. The area where the dinghy was found is in the Malta rescue region, however Maltese officials insisted that the migrants had to be taken to Lampedusa, which was the closest port of call.
The migrants in their phone call said that two persons had died on board, but no corpses were found when the rescue was made. Italian officials said the corpses may have been dumped into the sea.
Some of the other migrants were in poor health and needed urgent hospital treatment.
Five of those on board were pregnant women.
Italian media said that the fate of those who were not hospitalised depended on Malta, however the Maltese authorities insisted that in terms of international conventions the closest port of call of Lampedusa.
The transit of migrants across the Mediterranean has eased considerably since Italy started sending back to Italy all migrants found in international waters.
No migrants have landed in Malta for almost six months.
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Sean Grima
Mar 29th 2010, 12:20
what kind of a person calls people in this plight "sangisugi"? well, knowing that he is a staunch follower of KMB will make it more understandable
Anthony Agius
Mar 24th 2010, 06:28
why cant the govt make the mobile companies that operate from Malta to open up a dedicated centre to monitor these so called sattalite mobile calls and where they are bieng oringinated from , surely we have the technology and manpower to effect this excercise . I think its a bit ironic to see people sitting on their bonnet of their car at 2 am at ponta tal - qawra speaking on a sattelite phone looking out at sea , surely he wasnt speaking to a loved one , come on fellas get on the same page as the rest of the world and start deporting back the those that are not real refugees but oportunist.
Ramon Mizzi
Mar 23rd 2010, 08:30
'The migrants used a satellite phone'. WOW. Who has a satellite phone? Who is getting arrested for the illegal transportation of humans across the Mediterranean? SHHH Maybe we get an answer in 2100...
Steve Vella
Mar 23rd 2010, 03:20
Here we go again !! The Easter holiday tourist season is open.
Patrick Sacco
Mar 23rd 2010, 01:02
Malta should refuse them all!
lgalea
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:24
Dawn ma ghandhom l-ebda dritt li jigu hawn Malta ghax id-dritt ta' refugju huwa fl-ewwel pajjiz li tasal fih mhux kif huma l-immigranti illegali li anki skond rapporti ufficjali tal-Bord tal-Appell tar-Refugjati stess 99% minnhom ikunu ilhom snin kbar sa anki 10 snin jahdmu l-Libja. Dawn m'humiex refugjati imma sangisugi tal-poplu Malti.
M Cassar
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:01
Jean Gatt what do you mean impose a sanction on us...if they have no asylum claim then they are illegal and we have every right to send them back. So now it's no longer the asylum excuse, so now we know that that it is a full fledged conspiracy to send them here at all costs and without any regard to the rule of law whatsoever. If they do not have any asylum claim what is their excuse? Poverty is no excuse.
joe camenzuli
Mar 22nd 2010, 20:55
If they don't give a valid answer when questioned ... keep them locked up until they do and still deport them.
Libya return maltese immigrants with a valid visa andpassport so why can't we return illegals who departed from libyan shores?
C Gale
Mar 22nd 2010, 18:52
For the sake of our children, send them back to Libya where there is no war and democracy is at it's best. Why don't they want to stay there? I am sure there is ample space for them.
Kenneth Galea
Mar 22nd 2010, 16:18
Ha nibdew jew??????????? I was expecting a landing any day because Gaddaffi is irked with Europe at the moment. I hope Berlusconi manages to deport these economic migrants back to Libya or are held in detention in Lampedusa until deportation takes place. They have NO right to stay in Malta or Italy because Somalia is not part of the EU.
sean grima
Mar 22nd 2010, 15:57
italy should follow louise's advice, and push the boats back, with pregnant women and unborn children. who cares.
lgalea
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:23
You are right sean. We do not care. They should have stayed in their own country.
B Cassar
Nov 11th 2011, 12:36
women with unborn babies just show their lack of maturity and their non care for their own babies. If they don't care why should we burdened with them??? No woman in her sanity would cross the sea when she's due to give birth. Besides if it is true that they are unhappy how come they find the time and joy to do so many babies??? I think that who is desperate to keep alive, it's the last thing on his/her mind to have sex. Instead they are all already packed. Isn't it that they know that being pregnant is a straight forward passport to be accepted everywhere without questioning???? That's a free entry that's all. No one will refuse a pregnant woman therefore the boat has to be accepted by force. I think we are the stupid lot yet these africans know well what gives them freebies at the expense of the tax payer nowadays. I bet all of them have the latest fashioned mobile phones already with police, ambulance and what not contact numbers already saved in their phone books. I can bet on it.
T Pace
Mar 22nd 2010, 15:56
A boat with so many persons on board and lying low in the water (i.e. not planing) would not do more, at best, than 1 nautical mile per 4.5 lts ( 1 gallon). The migrants therefore needed space to store not less than 400 gallons. Was there space on board for this amount?
Antonio Persiano
Mar 22nd 2010, 12:40
Maybe, the rubber dinghy came off a mother ship...can we borrow a surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)? http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator/
I am sure EU have one lying around!
Louise Vella
Mar 22nd 2010, 12:35
According to Italian media, these illegal immigrants come from Somalia, a former Italian colony, so it is natural they want to settle in Italy. The push-back policy of the Berlusconi government has been successful, but sometimes a boat manages to escape. If Italy does not want these illegal immigrants, it should immediately transfer them to Libya.
It seems the illegal immigrants who telephoned Italian authorities (because they wanted to go to Italy) said they had corpses on board. True or false? Maybe it was to make the rescuers come.
There were 5 pregnant women on board. We got used to this. A pregnant woman makes the rescuers come more quickly.
ANSA says “Il Centro di prima accoglienza sull'isola ha chiuso i battenti”. The Italians have closed the Lampedusa detention centre. Worrying! Are they now going to say that they cannot keep the illegal immigrants in Lampedusa so they have to bring them to Malta? The Italian ambassador has already told us that the clinic in Lampedusa is too small to take care of large numbers of illegal immigrants, so they should be brought to Malta.
lgalea
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:25
Wholly agree with you. They have absolutely NO right to come or be in Malta. Any country that complains that they are not treated well in Malta or that we should allow them to stay here should put their money where their mouth is and take them all.
Francis Bellizzi
Mar 22nd 2010, 12:18
In my own personal experience of travelling in Africa, the poor people have a struggle to feed themselves so how on Earth do you find illegal / refugees in the middle of the Mediterranian making phone calls from cell phones. It`s a scam. The sooner EU politicians get some guts and start looking after their own people the better. After all EU countries hand over billions of euros annually to African politicians to supposedly look after their people. Or is that another scam.
lgalea
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:25
You are right. Billions upon billions every year and they still keep coming and wanting more. They have become dependent on aid and do not want to lift a finger to pull themselves out of their situation. The more help they get the more lazy they become.
Jean Gatt
Mar 22nd 2010, 12:12
@M Cassar
Once again it shows how much misinformed you seem to be. You can't simply make them turn away if they are found in territorial waters - it would be breaching int'l agreements. Apart from that, many of them don't even have a proper claim to asylum and it is that very reason why they refuse to co-operate - so as to prolong the work needed to be carried out by the authorities. This is much, much, more different from a police interrogation, and what type of sentence would you want the police to 'dish out'.
Don't get me wrong, I want those without a proper reason for asylum out of here as much as you do but unless you want the int'l community to impose some form of sanctions on us there isn't a lot we can do.
lgalea
Mar 22nd 2010, 21:25
They are breaching international law by sailing without identification in a dangerous unseaworthy overloaded uncertified boat without a proper qualified crew and entering into territorial waters illegally with criminal intent to breach our immigration laws. They can throw the whole book at them. As for the international community imposing sanctions they cannot and if they try to do so then all illegal immigrants should be given a free passage to those countries who try to do so. That is how the illegal immigrants should be treated and not with velvet gloves like they are treated in Malta.
Keith D'Amato
Mar 22nd 2010, 12:04
Its not a rescue! Its a phone call made to Italy to welcome them at their country.
@Jean Gatt - new policy perhaps? No real names no Entry.
M Cassar
Mar 22nd 2010, 11:56
Jean Gatt ..pt2. apart from which their is more valubale information. Do they ump the satellite phone, one can get a lot of information from the make of the satellite phone and the serial number.
M Cassar
Mar 22nd 2010, 11:53
Jean Gatt it is simple. If they refuse to co-operate then they will be forced back since they are lying and hiding facts then their asylum claim is also assumed a lie. Just like any police interrogation when people change their statements or do not co operate the sentence is dished out becuase they refused to co-operate. then I would offer to consider asylum only to those that agree in co-operating and there will be one of them who will talk. If they are lying about basic things like their names, where they came from etc, how in the hell is it possible to believe their asylum claim? That is my question.
John Azzopardi
Mar 22nd 2010, 11:13
Here we go again. Year after year/ Same story and no solution to the illegal immmigrants problems. People risking their lives..........Rubber dingies you said all the way from Africa. Let's get real. Why isn't this human trafficking problem being address by the EU government. This is not just an issue of people crossing over. It's illegal human trafficking and against EU directives 1 thorugh 3.
M Cassar
Mar 22nd 2010, 10:58
On the italian media it is said that the illegal immigrants claimed that there were 2 dead persons on board so that the rescue would come for them faster, and then we're supposed to believe they are really asylum seekers just becuase they say so and only on their sole testimony.
http://www.agrigentoweb.it/lampedusa-soccorso-barcone-con-60-immigrati_42711/
Jean Gatt
Mar 22nd 2010, 10:38
@M Cassar
If it's as simple as you make it sound, I invite you to interrogate them yourself and see what you manage to get out of them. Some of them, when asked their name answer with names of celebrities - a few years ago it is said that all the men on a boat gave them all the names of the players of Man.Utd. So please, don't dish out short, impractical ''solutions''.
M Cassar
Mar 22nd 2010, 10:23
Who is providing them with a satellite phone? Interrogate them, demand to know who is providing them with the phone and arrest them all for life human trafficking!