A FOUR-DAY long stand-off between Italy and Malta over the fate of 140 African boat people, stuck in a limbo just off the Italian island of Lampedusa, ended late on Sunday evening when Italy agreed to take in the stranded migrants.
Coast guard and Italian navy ships yesterday morning ferried the migrants into the Sicilian port of Empedocle from where they were then transferred to a reception centre in Caltanisetta, Sicily.
Last Thursday, the migrants were rescued by the Turkish cargo vessel, the MV Pinar, after their craft got into difficulties in choppy waters not far from Lampedusa. At that point, they became the object of a diplomatic row between Italy and Malta, with the countries arguing that the other should accept them.
Italian authorities argued that, given that the migrants were picked up in a Maltese “intervention zone”, then they were Malta’s responsibility. But Malta claimed that international regulations stipulate that the migrants should be landed at the nearest safe port, in this case Lampedusa.
Interior minister Roberto Maroni said that the Italian government would be calling on the European Commission for a “definitive ruling” on the matter, adding that Italy had taken in the migrants for “humanitarian reasons”. “That would serve to define responsibilities and force everyone to what they ought to do, that is intervene in their area of competence. Obviously, we took in these people for humanitarian reasons . . . But we still feel that Malta failed to do its duty.”
Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg, however, called the incident a “misunderstanding between friends”, adding that the two countries need to “find solutions” that would avoid similar incidents in future. European Commissioner for Justice Jacques Barrot, whilst thanking Italy, pointed out that the problem raised by the incident remains unresolved, namely that of responsibility for the migrants.
Reporters who got on board the MV Pinar said that the ship was in bad shape due to overcrowding, lack of food and water, and that cases of sickness have broken out among the crew and the migrants, who are mainly Nigerian, Ghanaian and Liberian nationals.
The body of one migrant, a pregnant woman believed to have drowned during the crossing, was landed in Lampedusa yesterday.