AFM rescue 347 migrants
Rescue operation lasted four hours
A group of 347 migrants was brought ashore last night after being rescued by an Armed Forces patrol boat when the 20-metre fishing boat they were on stalled off Malta.
The group consisted of 290 men, 48 women, two of whom were pregnant and nine children and babies. All were in relatively good health and most carried some personal belongings.
The noise of a baby crying punctuated the air yesterday evening at the army maritime base in Haywharf, Pietà as the migrants were transferred to waiting police buses.
Four Libyans, believed to have been steering the boat, were the first to set foot on the dock escorted by army officers. They were whisked away by the police for further investigation.
According to Captain James Grech, who was responsible for the P61 patrol boat, the migrants were packed on a single-engine open fishing boat that was steaming northward.
The migrants said they left the Libyan coastal city of Zuwarah, which is close to the Tunisian border on Tuesday. The group also claimed they were from Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria and Mali among others although they all looked African. The migrants did not seem to be carrying any form of identification.
The migrant boat was first sighted by an Italian fishing boat that provided initial help and informed the Maltese authorities.
When the P61 reached the migrant boat it was still steaming ahead but the engine stalled some 22 nautical miles south east of Malta.
Capt. Grech said that the rescue operation to transfer the migrants onto the patrol boat in batches of eight by dinghy started at around 3.30 p.m. and lasted some four hours. He said the sea was relatively calm.
The head of the Detention Services, Colonel Brian Gatt said families were transferred to Lister Barracks, while single men were to be taken to the Safi detention centre.
This is the first migrant boat to be rescued in a month. The last rescue happened on April 12 when 116 migrants were brought ashore in a very bad state. Yesterday’s boat was the sixth to reach Malta since the start of the Libyan crises, bringing the total of arrivals to 1,453.
Ironically, just a week ago EU members states agreed to take 323 migrants from Malta during a pledging conference organised by the EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.