MALTA HAS REFUSED to allow 102 Libyan refugees – including four pregnant women, one injured woman and a five-month-old baby – disembark a Liberian oil tanker which rescued them from a leaky dinghy.

Despite pressure from the European Union, the government insists it has fulfilled its obligations under international and humanitarian laws, claiming that the captain of the M/V Salamis vessel that rescued the migrants “flouted rules for commercial purposes”.

In a Twitter update posted earlier today, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the country was “in possession of evidence showing Salamis ignored search and rescue rules and Italy’s instructions”.

He added that Malta could not be expected to step in for “irresponsible shipowners”, referring to the captain of the oil tanker.

According to European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, the master of the ship fulfilled his humanitarian duties to save the lives of the 102 people on the high sea. They were rescued from their badly-damaged boat on Monday about 80kms off the Libyan coast yesterday.

She said it should be priority to save the lives of those rescued people, despite the “particular migratory pressure that Malta is facing”, noting that the ship is now closest to the nation.

“Any dispute about the responsible search and rescue authority, including the involvement of the Italian and Libyan authorities, as well as the right place of disembarkation does not help the persons in immediate need. These issues should be clarified at a later stage,” she said in a statement,” she continued.

At this point in time, it is the humanitarian duty of the Maltese authorities to allow these persons to disembark. Sending the ship back to Libya would be contrary to international law. The master of the ship has dispatched an urgent medical request as the injured woman needs immediate hospitalisation.

Malta claims that the tanker was not granted permission to enter Malta’s waters.

(YouTube: MaltaToday dotcomdotmt)

The government also believes that the captain refused to obey an order from a patrolling Italian navy ship to take the migrants to the nearest available port – which was Libya.

Amnesty International has added its voice to those calling for Malta to allow the group land.

“The Maltese authorities have a humanitarian duty to ensure the safety and well-being of those rescued. They must allow the boat to disembark in Malta and its passengers to be given any necessary medical treatment, as well as a chance to apply for asylum,” said Jezerca Tigani, deputy director for Amnesty Europe and Central Asia.

“Otherwise, the highest price may be paid by the women, men and children who may have to spend another night at sea with the fear of being sent back to Libya.”

Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa have braved the seas in dangerously ill-equipped vessels operated by traffickers to get to Italy and other parts of the European Union in recent years, many paying with their lives.

Malta had a record 880 arrivals in July with some 1,200 in total having landed on the island so far this year.

Italian Interior Minister Angelo Alfano has likened the traffickers to “merchants of death” who must be stopped.

Since 1999, more than 200,000 people have arrived on Italy’s southern Lampedusa island, which is, along with the Greece-Turkey border, one of the main gateways for undocumented migrants and refugees into the European Union.

-Additional reporting by AFP

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