Malta has taken in just one irregular migrant from the sea so far this year as the number of arrivals to Italy has tripled, according to data from the UN and the Italian interior ministry.

The UN’s Mediterranean operational portal shows that one person landed in Malta compared with 20,535 in Italy, which is three times as many as in the same period in 2022.

Sources said this person needed to be medically evacuated from a vessel.

I cannot exclude that Malta is [also] managing to lobby for effective interception on land in places like Al-Khums- Mark Micallef, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Malta has been accused of not doing enough to help migrants in distress at sea but geographical factors and a change in how governments are tackling the migrant crisis are also contributing factors, according to experts.

“Geography plays a big part,” explained Mark Micallef, director of the North Africa and Sahel Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

“Malta is impacted by the flows of migrants that depart from spots in Libya that are to the east of Tripoli, whereas Italy is affected mostly by spots to the west... the locations on the west of Tripoli are a lot more active,” he said.

“I cannot exclude that Malta is [also] managing to lobby for effective interception on land in places like Al-Khums [a Libyan coastal city east of Tripoli],” he added.

A UNHCR map showing the numbers of migrants taken in by southern European countries so far this year.

Italy’s surge in numbers is largely due to the three days between March 9-11 when as many as 4,566 people landed.

Maurice Stiel from Alarm Phone, a hotline for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean, agrees that more crossings are being attempted from Tunisia but believes the main factor is “Malta’s systematic non-assistance policy”.

“Migrant boats nowadays are trying to cross the Maltese search and rescue zone in order to reach Lampedusa or even Sicily, which of course prolongs journeys and makes them more dangerous.

“Migrants trying to escape from northern Africa, especially Libya, seem to be aware that they cannot rely on any assistance coming from Malta,” he added.

Small number 'due to lack of action by authorities'

Tamino Bohm, tactical coordinator for search and rescue NGO Sea Watch, also believes the small number of migrants is due to a lack of action on the part of Maltese authorities.

“This is not a new trend and is connected to the current policies of the government,” he said, observing that aircraft belonging to Armed Forces Malta (AFM) remain “very active” in southern waters and are passing information to the Libyan coastguard.

“I’ve been doing this job for over six years, and the last time I saw the AFM rescue someone was so long ago I can’t remember,” he added, stressing that the number of migrants crossing the Maltese search and rescue zone had “not changed”.

In December, Times of Malta reported that according to NGO Sea Eye, Malta’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) had instructed two merchant ships to ignore 45 people in distress at sea, warning in an email to one vessel that a rescue would be considered an interception on the high seas – a crime under international law.

The government never says why a rescue was not attempted, who took the decision and what the criteria was... They need to justify their decision

Earlier this month, Malta hosted a meeting of ministers from five EU Mediterranean states, at which a more hardline approach focused on prevention and repatriation was discussed.

Last week, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told parliament that Malta was continuing to insist that people traffickers must be countered, and the sea must be more intensively patrolled.

Call for more information on lack of rescues

However, Neil Falzon, director of human rights NGO Aditus Foundation, called on the government to provide more information on why rescues are not attempted.  

“I don’t think a state should measure success by people not turning up due to dying,” he said, calling for more accountability.

“The government never says why a rescue was not attempted, who took the decision and what the criteria was... They need to justify their decision – this isn’t a migration issue, it’s a democratic issue.”

Some 375 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean as of March 19, according to the UN. As of Tuesday, a total of 27,532 migrants had arrived in Europe via countries in the so-called ‘Med5’ group, a group of Mediterranean countries who meet to discuss shared regional issues such as migration.

Most migrants arrived in Italy, with Spain the next largest recipient at 3,748 arrivals. Greece was next with 3,216, followed by Cyprus with 549 and finally Malta with one arrival.

When pressed for details as to why only one migrant has arrived in the country so far this year compared to the relatively high number of arrivals seen in other countries, the government did not respond.

Last year, there were 444 sea arrivals – a 47 per cent decrease on 2021 arrivals – with the majority of boats departing from Libya.