30th May 2005

Immigrants rescued from the sea
SAFI, Malta (di-ve news)

In two different search and rescue operations on Monday, the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) rescued 56 illegal immigrants, claiming to be Sudanese and Eritrean. Six of the immigrants are females.

In the first case, a local fishing vessel reported a small craft with 28 persons on board around 60 Nautical Miles South of Malta. Patrol Vessel P51 found the sea craft at around 1145CEST. Two of the persons on board were women. All persons onboard claimed to be Sudanese.

The second operation struck at around 0812CEST, after the AFM were informed by the MRCC Rome about the second boat with a further 28 persons. The craft was adrift after having run out of fuel. After an intensive search with an islander aircraft, the boat was located at around 1530CEST. The 24 males and four females are all claiming to be from Eritrea.

All immigrants will be disembarked at around 2030CEST and will be handed over to police authorities for further investigations.