AFM rescues illegal immigrants on dinghy 93 miles SE of Malta

The Armed Forces of Malta went to the rescue of 20 illegal immigrants who found themselves in difficulty while they were on a dinghy some 93 nautical miles to the south east of Malta on Friday at about 5.15 p.m.

The AFM said that a patrol boat was dispatched to the area after their operations centre in Luqa received a request for assistance by the cargo vessel TK Geneva.

The ship, which was on her way from Tunis to Turkey, had sighted a dinghy with people on board who were having problems.

The AFM said the immigrants, who included a woman, were requesting assistance claiming that they had been at sea for a number of days. The persons on the boat claimed they were Somalis.

The AFM said that following co-ordination with the TK Geneva the 20 persons were taken on board the ship.

AFM patrol boat P51 reached the ship early yesterday morning and took the immigrants on board.

The immigrants were taken to Haywharf.

The police said the Immigration police are conducting investigations.

The illegal immigrants are being kept at the reception centres at Safi, Ta' Kandja and police headquarters.