Illegal immigrants repatriated

Most of the illegal immigrants who were returned to Malta from Italy a week ago were due yesterday to be sent back to Cairo on a chartered Air Malta flight this morning.

A total 136 of the 148 who were returned from Italy were to be sent back to Egypt yesterday while the remaining Moroccans are to be repatriated on Wednesday.

The illegal immigrants were among the 166 caught off Sicily after they were given assistance by the Armed Forces on September 9.

The Egyptian embassy has been instrumental in obtaining travel documents, which enabled speedy repatriation.

The saga of these immigrants started unfolding locally after their boat, which was drifting after they ran out of fuel, was encountered by a Gozitan fisherman who towed it to within half a mile of Marsalforn.

AFM patrol boats then went to the scene. The immigrants refused to land in Malta and requested food and fuel. They left after this was given to them. They were later intercepted some 35 miles off Pozzallo by the Guardia di Finanza.

The Italian government subsequently lodged a protest with the Foreign Ministry in Malta, insisting that Malta should take the immigrants back, as they had left from Maltese territory.

The Maltese government never accepted that the immigrants had landed in Malta or entered internal waters and argued that the treaty relating to the return of illegal immigrant to their point of origin did not apply.

When the Maltese government informed the Italian government about this, the Italian government asked the Maltese government to treat the issue politically rather than on a technical level.

Home Affairs minister Tonio Borg has said the government decided to take the illegal immigrants back for several reasons. Among these was that the boat had been so close to shore, and also that there were close relations between Malta and Italy.