Maltese authorities are alleged to have ignored repeated requests to help coordinate the sea rescue of a group of people including a disabled child.
A report published in Brussels-based online newspaper EU Observer on Saturday described an NGO vessel’s repeated, unsuccessful attempts to contact Maltese authorities.
Crew aboard the Ocean Viking say they rescued the group in Malta’s search and zone – a large stretch of sea that Malta is legally responsible for policing – but were then met with silence when trying to contact Maltese authorities.
According to the report, journalist Nikolaj Nielsen, who was on board the Ocean Viking rescue ship, said that out of 30 people, 15 were children. Apart from one Egyptian, the migrants were Libyan.
“Among them, a small, frail and dehydrated cripple boy. His wheelchair was still in the wooden boat, along with some of the adults.”
The migrants had spent two days at sea after leaving from Zuwara, a port city in Libya, and they had just made a slim escape from the Libyan Coast Guard.
The report said that the Libyans had intercepted them around 10 nautical miles inside the Malta’s search and rescue zone.
It also recounts how just the day before the rescue, Libyan authorities opened fire at migrant vessels and tried to ram it several times, in an attempted violent push back.
Before the rescue, SOS Mediterranenee’s rescue coordinator Luisa Albera had made ‘multiple’ calls to Malta and even sent emails which were left unanswered.
She asked numerous questions whilst on the phone with Maltese authorities.
“Did I speak with you before? Because we are in the Maltese search and rescue region and we have visual in a distress case,” she had said in one of her calls to the Maltese authorities.
""I already sent three emails, no answer, and now the Libyan coast guard is back," she had told them."
The report recalls how the Libyans appeared ‘out of nowhere’ and continued to press on the rescue ship, trying to intercept the boat.
Yet, for unknown reasons, the Libyans let the ship go.
“The reasons are unknown. Perhaps, it was because they were mostly Libyan. Or perhaps it was pressure from the Maltese authorities,” the report said.
“But onboard the Ocean Viking, one of those rescued gave another reason. He said they threatened to jump in the water, should the Libyans force them to board.”
After rescuing the rest of the survivors on the small vessel, Libyan authorities moved in and set the vessel on fire.