Delays in rescue operation off Malta’s coast sparks UN agency’s concern

The United Nations refugee agency today voiced concern over delays of a search-and-rescue operation for a boat carrying more than 20 people – mostly Eritreans – near Malta.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other bodies received distress calls on Sunday evening and information was passed along to Maltese and Italian maritime authorities, and it is unclear which of the two European nations were responsible in launching rescue operations.

After holdups on both Sunday and Monday, the vessel – whose passengers included 3 women and an 8-year-old child – was only rescued late yesterday by Libyan ships.

“While the boat in distress was in or near Malta’s search-and-rescue area and around 40 nautical miles only from Italy, it took some 24 hours for the rescue to take place,” said UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming.

She pointed out that instead of intervening and bringing the group onboard the ship to a closer and safer port, Malta and Italy relied on Libyan vessels to rescue the ship in Malta’s search-and-rescue zone.

UNHCR said that all passengers have been taken back to Libya where they started their sea journey.

“Malta and Italy have high recognition rates for Eritreans,” Ms. Fleming said, adding that UNHCR is concerned about the access of Eritreans fleeing their country to international protection in Libya, which has no domestic asylum system and has not signed on to the 1951 Refugee Convention.