Malta and Libya Meet to Discuss SAR

A two-day meeting between Maltese and Libyan officials was held in Libya on August 21-22, 2007, the main goal of which was to discuss collaborating in search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea. This meeting, described as “intense” yet “cordial,” was the initial meeting called for by Libyan and Maltese officials last February that was meant to lay the groundwork for establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries. Topics discussed included each country’s responsibilities and the possibility of Libyan forces being trained at the Armed Forces of Malta’s (AFM’s) Search and Rescue Training Centre. Another meeting is planned in the future to actually establish the collaboration and solidify the terms of the agreement.

This meeting took place in the wake of a number of migrant tragedies, and apparent inaction by Maltese and Libyan forces to aid those migrants, that have outraged much of the international community. The most infamous incident occurred on May 27 when an Italian navy vessel found a group of 27 stranded Africans who had been holding onto the fishing nets of a Maltese fishing boat for three days and nights. The crew of the fishing boat had given the Africans a small amount of water and fruit, but did not allow them to board the vessel. The Italian crew rescued the stranded people and took them to the island of Lampedusa for care and aid.

Just prior to this incident, a Spanish tug boat, the Montfalcó, rescued 26 people from a sinking boat about 100 nautical miles from both Libya and Malta. Those rescued were not permitted to disembark in Malta or Libya, but were permitted to in Spain. This event caused the Spanish government to lodge a formal complaint against Malta for refusing to help the Montfalcó in its rescue operations. Spanish Immigration Secretary María Consuelo Rumí told the Spanish press that she understood that Malta was a small country already full of immigrants, but in matters of life and death like this, all people should be rescued and welcomed; evaluations about where the migrants should be taken should be completed after their basic needs are met.

In a European Union (EU) interior ministry meeting in Luxembourg held back in June, Maltese officials stated that their already densely-populated country could not deal with a large flood of illegal immigrants. Malta would like the 27 member states of the EU to agree to “share out” the immigrants between all the countries, according to the size of each member state. However, as the EU members have never before agreed to this type of plan, it is highly unlikely that they will any time soon. Nevertheless, it appears that this meeting between Malta and Libya is a step in the right direction. Hopefully all the nations in the area will keep in mind United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis’ sentiments from a meeting held on the subject on June 1: “The need for assistance to people in distress at sea should remain the first priority.”