Malta accused of leaving 24 in danger of death at sea, refusing to coordinate rescues

The migrant rescue charity Sea-Eye has accused the Maltese rescue coordination centre of refusing to coordinate rescue efforts for a distress call from migrants at sea inside the Maltese search and rescue zone.

During the night of Wednesday, 11 May and Thursday 12 May, a distress call reached the Sea-Eye 4 vessel via the organization AlarmPhone, from 24 people in distress in a small wooden boat in the Maltese search and rescue zone.

The people said they had already fled Benghazi, Libya on 8 May, They are from Eritrea, Sudan, Chad, Libya, Syria and Egypt.

Sea-Eye said that on 12 May, oil tanker Ross Sea approached the wooden boat. During the radio communication between Sea-Eye 4 and Ross Sea, the tanker’s captain stated that he tried to reach the rescue coordination centre in Malta, but received no response for a while. “RCC Malta told me to keep on monitoring. They asked me to just stay around and keep on monitoring from distance,” he told Sea-Eye 4.

“We regularly receive no response from the rescue centre in Malta during maritime emergencies as well. Why didn’t Malta directly ask Ross Sea to rescue the people? Malta did not send any help for three days! By now, Malta stops at nothing to prevent people seeking protection from being able to reach Malta,” said Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.

“If Malta had coordinated the rescue and had it carried out by the Ross Sea, whose next port of destination would have been the Maltese capital Valletta, Malta would have had to take in the people seeking protection.

“In recent days, we have once again witnessed Malta instructing even merchant ships that are required to provide assistance because they are legally obligated to do so, to keep their distance from people seeking protection in distress at sea. These methods are inhumane and violate basic human rights,” Isler said.

The Sea-Eye 4 reached the wooden boat on Friday 14 May, to safely take all 24 people on board and provide them with first aid. “They are all extremely exhausted. Most of their clothes are soaked and therefore they are hypothermic. It is obvious that they are psychologically traumatized due to 6 days and nights at sea,” said Daniela Klein, doctor of German Doctors on board Sea-Eye 4.

On May 8, 2022, the Sea-Eye 4 had already taken over 34 people from the cargo ship BSG Bahamas, whose crew had rescued the refugees from a small wooden boat. In this case Malta had refused to coordinate the rescue operation as well, so the MRCC Bremen stepped in. Now the Sea-Eye 4 is in search of a port of safety for the total of 58 people seeking protection.