Government, AFM hit back at Italian political, media onslaught over migrant tragedy off Lampedusa
UPDATED | The Armed Forces has hit back at criticism levelled at Malta by the Italian media, and implications of responsibility hinted this morning by Italy’s interior minister Roberto Maroni over yesterday’s migrant tragedy off the island of Lampedusa.
7 April 2011, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
3 min read
In a statement, the Armed Forces made it clear that the sinking of the migrant boat with 300 people on board happened right before the eyes of Italain Coast Guard boats, while they were attempting to approach the same boat.
The AFM explained that contrary to any other suggestions, the incident happened at a distance of 32 NM south of Lampedusa and 100 NM southwest off Malta in rough seas.
Although the boat was sighted and the incident happened within Malta’s Search and Rescue area (SAR) it was more opportune to pass on the information to the Italian authorities, since naval assets were much closer than the Maltese.
In fact, Malta coordinated the whole search and rescue operation, and is still engaged in the operation off Lampedusa.
The AFM deployed Patrol Vessel P61 to the search area yesterday morning and it is still on the scene.
Yesterday’s search efforts by the AFM also included two search flights, one of which was conducted by the AFM’s new Maritime Patrol Aircraft the Beechcraft King Air B200, on its first operational deployment.
Search activities this morning are supported by an Italian Military Mission AB212 helicopter deployed from Malta. Current weather conditions in the area are somewhat better than yesterday with 4-6 foot seas and northerly force 4 winds.
But the drowning of some 250 sub-saharan migrants off the coast of Lampedusa has rekindled tensions between Malta and Italy, as Rome’s home affairs minister Roberto Maroni implied responsibility on Malta’s response to the SOS call made by the migrants by satellite phone.
Addressing the Italian Parliament this morning, Roberto Maroni said that soon after the migrants called Malta for assistance, “the Maltese informed Rome that they did not have naval assets for a rescue.”
Maroni explained that the migrants boat was within the Maltese search and rescue area (SAR) and added that “although Italy did not have the responsibility to conduct the rescue, it felt it should do so for moral reasons.”
The Italian authorities last night said that 53 migrants were rescued after the boat capsized in rough weather at dawn yesterday. It is feared that the boat carried as many as 300 migrants. They left from Libya two days earlier.
So far, 52 people being taken on board alive and later hospitalised in Lampedusa.
Only 20 bodies have been spotted and recovered in the rough seas, and hopes for finding an estimated 250 missing migrants alive were faded by this morning when the searches resumed.
The Armed Forces of Malta explained in a statement yesterday that the original information about the boat came from migrants at the Hal Far Open Centre, and later from a call made by the migrants from on board the boat.
Map plotting established that the boat was far more closer to Lampedusa than to Malta, and it would have taken much more time to reach the boat from Malta.
The Maltese authorities even informed NATO command centre in Naples about the migrants boat.
Meanwhile, Maroni criticised the EU for only making €25 million available to tackle the migration problem. “What was needed to tackle the problem - he said - was to close the source of migration.”
He said the EU needed to take action in the countries from what the migrants departed, not only in terms of security, but also economic development.
Italy would be issuing temporary residents’ permits to Tunisian migrants who had relatives in other EU countries, allowing them to circulate within the Schengen area.
He said that at a meeting of European Home Affairs Ministers on Monday, Italy would insist that the burden sharing mechanism should be triggered because of the emergency.
Malta has already called for the activation of the mechanism.
Yesterday, EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom wrote to all EU governments and urged them to ‘rapidly’ reach an agreement on burden sharing, and to agree on the urgent implementation of an emergency directive on migration.
chris caruana turner •
Our Government is being seen in its true light. As the spineless entity, it really is. The defensive and reactive approach adopted by the Maltese Government in almost all, if not all, its actions, be it related to the international, but also to local situations, sis proof of a debilitated and worn out government that lacks motivation, ideas, planning, management and a strong hand, it is essentially striving to survive.
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Minister Maroni, and the rest of the Italian politicos and media use the Italian term "acque maltesi", when this implies territorial waters, which is NOT THE SAME as "acque di competenza coordinamente soccorso SAR", that is the Maltese Search and Rescue Region of Responsibility.
Maroni neither states in parliament that information on the illegal immigrants plight on their ramshackle boat was received as early as 12.25am of Wed., 6th April via a Detention Service employee at the Hal Far Open Centreas relayed from out at sea by an African there. He also omits that the Armed Forces of Malta at RCC Malta first informed the Italian Coast Guard in their Rome HQ at 1.20am, when it was requested to confirm availability of their respective assets.
Evidently, some Italian doesn't speak or read English very well, for at no time RCC Malta told MRCC Rome that AFM assets couldn't deploy to perform the rescue.
Normally, and anybody's common sense obliges that the assets available and closest to an incident's geographical location are best deployed for best expeditive response.
Mr. Marroni ought to read in finer detail what's laid out in the Search and Rescue Convention of 1979!!
International media reports claim that MRCC Rome was unable to deploy any assets to the area because it was involved in two other operations on Lampedusa itself. An Italian fishing vessel, just 10 miles from the migrants vessel in distress was diverted to assist. It had arrived on scene simultaneously with two Italian Coastguard craft as the migrants were still navigating northwards.
Maroni doesn't say that whilst their Italian patrol craft were monitoring the migrant boats, it capsized UNDER THEIR EYES at 5.35am.
Me thinks the honesty and transparency of the Italians leave much to be desired!!
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If two Italian boats reached the migrant,s boat at 5.30am, and the tragedy happened at 6.30am with the Italian Coast Guard standing by, I can't understand how Malta is to blame! Probably, the overcrowded boat simply tilted when all the migrants rushed to get off the boat. In that case , the two coast guard boats should have approached the migrants one on each side; it is the ABC of seamanship!
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The funny thing about this is that newscasters on RETE 4 were referring to refugee boats specifically leaving Libya for Lampedusa and showed same refugees clamoring that they want to go to Italy !!. "Viva Italia" they shouted !!.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the EU keen to give Gaddafi €5 billion to keep potential immigrants from leaving Libya? If it is so, then how come only €25 million are made available to tackle the issue? If the EU deems the latter sum enough, then €4.975 billion were to be wasted annually to feed Gaddafi's extravagances. The audacity...
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It is about time someone grasped this issue fully and squarely in the European Union.
There are around 500,000 potential escapees awaiting to leave the north coast of Africa (libya has over 450,000 of these alone) who are all attempting to get in to Malta (or the other EU States.)
Malta is the closest of the states under siege here and it cannot take on board any more of these 500,000 escapees than it has already. Italy has by far more flexibility to habdle this and it should not blame Malta for something it (Italy) should be doing.
