‘Ignored’ SOS calls follow-up

A probe ordered by the Council of Europe into allegations that Malta and other Mediterranean states ignored distress calls by immigrants fleeing Libya earlier this year is expected to be concluded by next February.

The rapporteur, Dutch Socialist MP Tineke Strik, will be having meetings in Malta today and tomorrow as part of her inquiry, according to the Council.

Mrs Strik is expected to meet refugees, who arrived from Libya after January, to hear their experiences and will meet Armed Forces of Malta officers involved in rescue operations.

She will also meet representatives of NGOs and European and UN officials dealing with refugee matters on the island and the Maltese delegation to the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly.

British newspaper The Guardian reported last May that 61 boat people escaping Libya died after their distress call was ignored by armed forces operating in the Mediterranean, including Malta’s.

The following day, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, called for “an immediate and comprehensive inquiry” into the incident.

Mrs Strik has also visited Rome and Brussels and hosted a parliamentary hearing as part of the inquiry.