Two Maltese prison inmates who were missing in Tunisia, have contacted their families but their whereabouts remain unknown, according to the father of one of them.

Thomas Camilleri of Gżira and Glenn Paul Xuereb of San Ġwann, both 22, have been detained at the Messadine jail in Sousse since July but went missing after a massive prison breakout early last week.

Joe Camilleri, Thomas’s father, said the two made contact with their families on Saturday afternoon. He claimed the men did not reveal where they were.

“They informed us they were alright and told us not to worry,” Mr Camilleri said when contacted, adding the two had not yet contacted the Maltese embassy in Tunis.

The two, who were arrested in Tunisia and charged with trying to export 70 kilograms of cannabis to Malta, have no passport since this was retained by the Tunisian judicial authorities when they were arraigned.

“I would like them to come to Malta but it does not depend on me. It is up to them,” Mr Camilleri said, when asked whether he would like his son to return home.

The legal situation the two inmates find themselves in is very anomalous since the prisoners are believed to have fled the jail after authorities opened the cells. This raises questions whether or not the two are considered to be fugitives.

Obtaining official information is very hard as the country is gripped in political and social turmoil.

“Whatever the circumstances of their departure from the prison they still have pending criminal charges against them, which means the authorities would still want justice to be done,” legal sources who spoke to this newspaper said.

However, the sources said that, although Malta and Tunisia shared an extradition treaty, the particular circumstances of this case may create a legal conundrum given the current state of affairs in Tunisia.

After a Monastir prison went up in flames two weeks ago, killing 42 people, Tunisian authorities were scared of similar incidents happening in other prisons and allowed prisoners to leave.

Messadine, which is not far from Monastir, may have been one of these prisons. However, security in another jail in Tunis has been doubled and Maltese prisoners there are safe, according to Malta’s ambassador to Tunisia, Vicki Ann Cremona.

When asked about the two missing inmates, she said they had not made any sort of contact with the embassy.

“We have no information as to their destination or whereabouts,” Dr Cremona said.