Ten women claiming to be pregnant were among 139 illegal immigrants who were rescued at sea yesterday morning and brought in safely at Haywharf, Pietà, in one of the largest single landings of immigrants.
Packed like sardines on a 35-foot grey rubber dinghy, they had made contact with the Italian Coast Guard's station in Rome with a satellite phone on Sunday morning.
The Italian Coast Guard informed the Armed Forces of Malta just after midday on Sunday and the army's Rescue Coordination Centre at Luqa barracks monitored developments throughout the day and during the night. Yesterday morning, after the dinghy was located 87 nautical miles south-southwest of Malta, a plane was sent out followed by a patrol boat to bring them ashore.
The AFM said there were 103 men and 36 women, 10 of them claiming to be pregnant. Sources said none of the women looked heavily pregnant.
Initial investigations revealed that the group was made up of Somalis, Ghanaians and Nigerians.
This is the only group of illegal immigrants to have arrived this month and one of the largest to land at one go. The last landing was on November 6, when 68 were brought ashore. In total, 2,704 immigrants have landed this year, the bulk of them in summer, making 2008 a record year.
Last weekend alone, the Italian island of Lampedusa was overwhelmed by 1,700 arrivals in just 48 hours. Reuters reported yesterday that a wave of migrants reaching Italy by sea is creating divisions within the Italian government on how to deal with Libya, which critics say is failing to live up to agreements to help intercept boats headed for Italy.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government took office in May pledging to stem illegal immigration but the number of migrants arriving by sea is setting off alarms in Italy and opening the government to criticism. Since Christmas, nearly 2,000 would-be immigrants packed onto boats reached the tiny southern island of Lampedusa, a startling figure that prompted the interior minister to publicly complain about Libya.
Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi "must respect the accords" to reduce immigration, said Mr Maroni, from the anti-immigrant Northern League political party.
Others from his party have called Mr Gaddafi "unreliable", and opposition politicians are using the issue to accuse Mr Berlusconi of failing to deal with illegal immigration, the Reuters report said.
Libya, a popular point of departure for African immigrants, agreed with Italy last year to set up joint patrols to curb the number of immigrants crossing by sea to Italy. A subsequent pact between the two countries in August reiterated this goal.
But Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, in a sign of divisions on how to deal with Libya, acknowledged part of the blame fell on Rome - where the Parliament has yet to approve the August accord with Tripoli.