Armed Forces of Malta rescues 97 migrants at sea

A group of 97 migrants has been brought to Malta after being rescued by an Armed Forces patrol boat on Monday night. 

Their arrival was the second big group in less than a week after 370 migrants were rescued and brought to Malta on Wednesday.

The nationalities were still to be ascertained. The group included two women and two children.

Sea-Watch said that the Maltese authorities were informed of the migrants in distress by the Watch The Med Alarmphone on Monday at 1pm.

“The people on the small rubber boat reported that they had been at sea for three days.

“Yesterday and night, many military planes were flying in the same area, and a Maltese military patrol boat was nearby…. the rescue was initiated more than two hours after our crew had documented the situation on the reconnaissance plane Kolibri together with Pilotes Volontaires and had pointed out to the patrol boat that there was an immediate danger to life,” Sea-Watch said in a Facbeook post.

“European authorities are doing everything in their power to reduce the number of people arriving in Europe. Bypassing and delaying rescue operations is nothing more than non-assistance and endangers human lives every day.”