In a first for Malta, the asylum seekers saved from a capsized boat last Friday were brought to Malta, despite being rescued only 60 miles off Lampedusa – which qualified as the closest safe port.

Although the site of the incident was in its search and rescue area, Malta was 120 miles away. In similar circumstances in the past, the Maltese Government has argued that the migrants should have been taken to the nearest safe port.

Asked yesterday whether Friday’s incident had set a precedent for Malta’s search and rescue policy, Dr Muscat said it did not: “We did what we had to do.”

The AFM, whose aircraft was the first to spot the migrants on Friday afternoon, managed to rescue 143 migrants, while the Italian navy took another 56.

Most of the deceased were taken to Lampedusa while the AFM brought to Malta five bodies – a woman and four children.

Dr Muscat hinted at a more dynamic working relationship with the Italian government of Enrico Letta, when he added that the weekend’s mission was “a joint mission between the Italians and the Maltese” and that it was not his intention to “squabble but to work together.”

“It was definitely not my intention to argue as to who should take these people, as if we were talking about goods,” Dr Muscat said.

His words yesterday seemed to contrast with the position taken by the Maltese Government in August when Malta held a stand-off over 102 migrants saved by the crew of the Greek-owned tanker M/T Salamis, which was not allowed to enter Maltese territory.

It was definitely not my intention to argue as to who should take these people, as if we were talking about goods

The vessel was stranded 24 miles outside Maltese waters, with the Government firmly blocking access to Maltese territorial waters and the ship instructed to head back to Libya by the Italian and Maltese governments.

Then, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia had insisted that since the migrants were rescued in an area close to Libya, international law made it clear that they should have been taken to the nearest port, which in this case was Libya, from where the ship had departed only an hour earlier.

The captain had disregarded this order. Eventually, Italy stepped in (the oil was destined for Italy) and accepted to take in the migrants.

“This is a matter of principle. We cannot allow this exception to happen because this isolated case could become the rule,” Dr Mallia had said then.

Yesterday the Prime Minister insisted, however, that there had been no change in policy.

“Even though people see it as a totally different thing, for me there’s a coherence in our politics on immigration on all this,” Dr Muscat said, arguing that the situation at the weekend was a particularly tragic event and that took priority over other considerations.

Neil Falzon of the NGO Auditus said the Government’s attitude on this boat was very different from usual: none of the families were put in detention; the asylum seekers are being given psychological help; and the best efforts are being made to reunite the families as soon as possible.

“We look forward to see this positive proactive approach with regard to every single boat that comes in,” Dr Falzon said.

“We hope this is not a one-off just because the BBC is in Malta and the immigrants are Syrians,” he said.