Armed Forces of Malta denies hindering migrant rescues but gives no information

The Armed Forces of Malta has played down allegations that boats carrying migrants were left adrift or had their rescue hindered but gives no details on ongoing operations

The AFM Patrol Boat Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday
The AFM Patrol Boat Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday

The Armed Forces of Malta have denied leaving boats carrying migrants adrift in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone. But in a one-sentence reply, the army gave no details on ongoing operations.

Humanitarian NGOs reported on Saturday that three dinghies carrying 60, 100 and 110 people respectively, were adrift in the Maltese search and rescue region.  

They were spotted by Sea Watch’s Moonbird, a civilian monitoring aircraft. 

Alarm Phone and Sea Watch claimed government was “actively hindering the rescue of the people, instead of coordinating it”.

Questions sent by MaltaToday on Saturday were answered on Monday, with an AFM spokesperson saying that search and rescue operations are coordinated in accordance with the "applicable international conventions and regulations and through the competent authority".

"Allegations of boats sinking, left adrift or hindering rescue are false," the spokesperson said without giving details as to ongoing operations or  missions the AFM may have been involved in.

Over the past 48 hours, more than 400 migrants disembarked in Lampedusa. After a boat carrying 215 asylum seekers, including nine women, two minors and a baby, made it to the Italian island on Saturday, three other boats carrying 70, 57 and 88 people disembarked yesterday. 

It remains unclear whether these boats are the same ones that were flagged by NGO Alarm Phone over the weekend.

READ ALSO: Civil Society Network demands government explanation over 270 migrants stranded at sea