Migrant routes, with the Egypt passage highlighted in red.The 257 migrants rescued on Thursday left from Egypt and had been at sea for seven days, survivors told the authorities yesterday.
Their provenance explains why the migrants ended up in Malta when Italy this year was taking practically all rescued asylum seekers, which number about 100,000.
“They were basically sailing a straight route from Egypt to Sicily before their vessel ran into trouble and they were sinking,” a source told Times of Malta. The source said their location was some 340 miles southeast of Malta, two miles into the island’s search and rescue area.
The group, which included 30 children, an unusually high number, was brought in on Thursday evening after having been rescued by a cargo ship. Ever since the Mare Nostrum rescue mission was launched, the Italian government has been taking all the migrants who set sail from western Libya, a traditional departure hub.
Malta and Italy have been abandoned for too long
“It’s always been the case that the majority of migrants run into trouble in the corridor leading to Lampedusa. In the past, Italy and Malta were bickering over who should take these migrants in,” the source said. The Italian government has now changed tack and is happy with whatever help Malta can give with the actual rescue operations, he added.
With Thursday’s arrivals, a total of 565 migrants arrived in Malta so far this year, a decrease from the average 1,400 annual arrivals recorded since 2003.
This latest arrival comes as the European Commission announced it was prepared to launch FrontexPlus, a new EU-backed rescue mission in the Mediterranean.
The EU Commissioner responsible for the sector, Cecilia Malmström is expected in Malta on Thursday for meetings with the UN refugee agency and the Malta-based European Asylum Support Office, as well as several government ministers.
Italy has long been lamenting it cannot sustain the mission on its own. But EU observers were sceptical that this offer by the European Commission would lead to anything concrete.
The success of the mission depends on whether member states are prepared to make their military assets available to Frontex.
Moreover, the EU is not saying it would replace Mare Nostrum as such but would rather work alongside it. It is then up to the Italian government to decide what to do.
A spokesman for the Maltese government said: “While we note the EC’s current stance, we will remain vigilant that the country’s best interest is safeguarded at all times in any operation.
“Malta and Italy have been abandoned for too long and half-baked measures which would add to the burden on our countries will not be accepted.”
The country’s cooperation with Italy was at its best, he said, reiterating that Malta has been using its assets to avoid loss of life at sea.