A boatload of 24 illegal migrants was escorted to Malta last night after it was intercepted by an AFM patrol boat 12 miles south of Dingli.
The presence of the boat was reported by fishermen at about 6.30 p.m. and a patrol boat was immediately deployed to the scene.
The AFM said the migrants declared they wanted to come to Malta. At hand at Hay Wharf, where the migrants were landed, were officers of the immigration section of the police, medical staff and officers from the Detention Service headed by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Gatt.
This was the first arrival of migrants in several months, but the Italian island of Lampedusa has seen an influx of several hundred as fine weather persists over the Central Mediterranean. Landings were also reported in Pantelleria.