Baby and two women landed for treatment

A mother and her baby who were among 51 illegal immigrants on board the Spanish fishing trawler anchored off Malta were yesterday evening airlifted for medical treatment here.

A pregnant woman was also being transported by sea to Malta to receive assistance given her condition.

Also heading for Malta was the salvage craft Melita II with 25 illegal immigrants on board. The migrants were on a boat whose engine stalled in the vicinity of the Spanish trawler.

It took a whole day of discussions before the mother and the pregnant woman were finally persuaded to accept being transported to Malta to receive medical attention, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Tony Abela, said. The Armed Forces of Malta did their utmost to persuade the women to land temporarily to receive treatment before being returned to the Francesco Catalina. It seems they were too scared to leave the group and so initially refused, army commander Brigadier Carmel Vassallo said.

The matter entered its fourth day yesterday with diplomatic attempts between the Maltese, Spanish and Libyan authorities failing to find a solution to the problem.

Malta is standing its ground, refusing to provide refuge to the immigrants, who are reportedly from Eritrea, on grounds that they were picked up closer to Libyan ports and fully outside the island's search and rescue zone.

As the island heaved under the sudden influx of 130 irregular immigrants who entered on five separate boats on Monday, Malta was coming under pressure from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide temporary refuge.

In an international statement issued in Geneva yesterday, the UNHCR said it fully understood the difficulties and concerns of the Maltese authorities and the considerable challenges posed by the repeated arrivals of mixed groups of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in various Mediterranean countries.

"However, given the urgency of the situation and for practical considerations, UNHCR is appealing to governments in the region to allow the disembarcation and admission of the 51 people to their territory, at least on a temporary basis," it said.

Malta is working round the clock in an attempt to reach a diplomatic solution. Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo and Dr Abela told The Times no solution had been found yet.

In the meantime, a Spanish border expert and an interpreter arrived in Malta yesterday afternoon and were taken on board the trawler by the AFM to interview the immigrants. They remained on board last night.

Asked if the government had a contingency plan to face the possibility of an even bigger influx of immigrants, Dr Borg said the recent repatriation of over 150 Egyptians had eased the situation, but their place was instantly filled in a matter of days.

"We are under a heavy strain and we are doing all we can," he said.

The Ministry for Social Solidarity, which is involved in the accommodation of immigrants released from detention centres, was also working hard to address the matter.

Over the past two months structural works have been underway at the Hal Far open centre to equip it with the facilities necessary to house over 600 persons. It currently hosts 200 immigrants.

The debate over migration continues to be a topic of discussion and the International Organisation for Migration, the Rome branch, has said it will be establishing a presence in Malta in the coming months.

IOM spokesman Giulia Falzoi said the aim was to initiate a project in collaboration with the Maltese government that would provide a comprehensive mechanism to offer failed asylum seekers and others wishing to return home the possibility to choose to return safely and in dignity.

The pilot initiative to foster assisted voluntary return is a seven-month project funded by the European Refugee Fund and co-funded by the Home Affairs Ministry for Justice and the IOM.