The number of migrants who make it to Malta has been dropping over the last few years, even though the number of rescued people in Maltese search-and-rescue waters has remained constant at an average of 2,900 a year.
Last year, only 444 migrants arrived on Malta despite a total of 2,926 people being rescued in Malta’s SAR, figures obtained by Times of Malta show.
This was half the number of sea arrivals of 2021 (832), when 2,300 people were rescued.
In 2020, a total of 2,281 migrants made it to Malta, while 3,377 people were rescued at sea.
Data about the number of people rescued in the Maltese SAR was provided by the Armed Forces of Malta following a decision by the Data Protection Commissioner.
However, the number of arrivals was sourced from UNHCR periodical data, as a request for such data has been consistently turned down by the authorities citing national security reasons.
Times of Malta is requesting the data in the light of claims that over the past few years, Malta has been failing to assist migrants at risk and has been breaking international law.
The authorities first refused to provide the data in parliament in January and February 2022. Times of Malta then sought replies from the government following the dissolution of parliament and the election of a new administration.
When no reply was forthcoming, we sought the information through Freedom of Information requests. When this too was unsuccessful, we asked for a review by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.
The commissioner ruled last month that while our request for the number of people rescued in the Maltese SAR was justified, our inquiry about how many of them were brought to Malta, Libya or Italy was not.
Times of Malta is therefore appealing this ruling, insisting we are only after numbers and not after the means of rescue, by whom the rescues were carried out, or an explanation of protocols, procedures and operations.
The fact that people rescued in the Maltese SAR are taken to Malta, Libya and Italy is already public knowledge and providing figures will not uncover the AFM’s modus operandi.
Documents revealing the AFM’s modus operandi are anyway already in the public domain, after the authority was ordered to present documents about equipment, location of rescues and communication by the Maltese court in separate proceedings.
As a public authority, the AFM is entrusted with public funds to ensure lives are saved at sea, placing the public authority under the obligation of transparency and accountability.
The government has also claimed that the controversial cooperation with Libya – a country deemed unsafe for asylum seekers – would help deter “people trafficking” and sea crossings.
However, the figures now available to Times of Malta show rescues in Maltese search-and-rescue waters remained constant.
Separate UNHCR data shows that arrivals to Europe via the central Med have meanwhile increased in recent years.
Malta’s SAR zone stretches across the Mediterranean
Throughout 2022, some 160,100 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean and Northwest African maritime routes – a 30 per cent increase compared to 2021, when 123,300 people arrived through these routes.
Despite a dip in 2020 during the pandemic (95,700 arrivals), 2019’s figure is very similar to that of 2021. Throughout 2019, a total of 123,700 people arrived through this route.
The previous year (2018), some 141,400 people made it through.
Where are the rescued taken?
European states and human rights NGOs often dispute where rescued migrants should be taken, while some neighbouring states also disagree on who should shoulder responsibility.
While human rights and refugee laws require states not to refuse people at their borders, the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue says that people rescued at sea must be taken to the “nearest place of safety”.
This means that the nearest place of safety for asylum seekers rescued at sea off the Libyan coast is often Lampedusa.
According to the UN and human rights activists, Libya is not a safe place, and therefore, asylum seekers cannot be returned to the north African country, where they are likely to be persecuted or put in danger.
Malta is bound by the 1979 convention but a 2004 amendment changed things around for the island and its Italian neighbour.
The 2004 amendment states that rather than the “nearest point of safety”, people rescued at sea should be taken to the country responsible for the SAR they were in when rescued.
Malta’s SAR zone stretches across the Mediterranean from off the Tunisian coast to Greece, making the island practically responsible for all the people rescued in the central Mediterranean.
So while Italy ratified the convention, Malta refused to sign the 2004 amendment. It has consistently made it clear that it does not recognise the amendment.
In recent years, this often led to a standoff between Malta and Italy, who would simultaneously refuse to open their ports to rescued people.
According to international reports, rescues in Maltese SAR are either returned to Libya by the Libyan coastguard, brought to Malta, or taken in by Italy.
Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia assisted with the FOI process as part of a legal support programme for journalists by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.