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Malta rejects Italian demand to take over sea rescues
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 22 - 08 - 2009


Malta rejected Italian demands that
it let Italy take over sea rescues in some Maltese waters, after
Rome said the tiny island was incapable of doing the job
properly, following the latest reported drownings of migrants, according to Reuters.
Malta's Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said on Saturday Malta
would not sign an agreement with Italy to reduce its search and
rescue jurisdiction.
"We will not sign despite the pressure," Italian news agency
Ansa quoted Borg as saying.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in an interview in
Saturday's Corriere della Sera: "It is clear they (Malta) do not
have the instruments, such as number of boats and crews, to
control such a wide area."
The comments came after Italian authorities found a boat on
Thursday with five Eritrean migrants aboard which had sailed
through Maltese waters. According to the migrants some 73 others
had died as the boat crossed the Mediterranean from Africa.
Asked if Malta was to blame for the tragedy, Frattini said
he did not have concrete evidence to say so with certainty.
He said Italy had been negotiating with Malta for 10 years
to reach an agreement on sea rescues, adding Malta had so far
refused to accept a reduction of its territorial waters
jurisdiction.
Malta has denied allegations it failed to save migrants.
"Five Eritreans found on a dinghy were in good health and
refused to be rescued since they wanted to go to Italy," Maltese
Armed Forces Commander brigadier Carmel Vassallo said in a
statement.
Vassallo said Malta did not abandon the migrants until they
arrived in the territorial waters of Lampedusa. "We stayed there
until we were certain the Italian customs guards went for them,"
he said.
The prosecutor's office in Agrigento in Sicily has opened an
inquiry. Sources close to the office said it might ask Maltese
authorities to provide further information to check reports one
of their boats had approached the migrants' vessel without
providing assistance.
Some 36,900 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by boat last
year in search of a better life, a rise of 75 percent from 2007,
according to the Interior Ministry.


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