An emergency rescue hotline is calling on the local authorities to rescue people aboard three boats which it claims are in Malta's search-and-rescue area.

On Thursday morning, Alarm Phone said on social media that three boats in distress were adrift in waters falling under Malta's responsibility.

It claimed they had been drifting for several hours southwest of Lampedusa but Malta's Rescue Coordination Centre had yet to act.

This is not the first time the hotline and search-and-rescue NGOs claimed their calls for rescue fell on deaf ears.

Malta’s intensified efforts to stop asylum seekers from disembarking on the island during the pandemic even featured in a human rights report claiming civil society work conditions across the EU deteriorated in 2020.

Questions sent to the Armed Forces of Malta remained unanswered.