VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Emergency hotline AlarmPhone has called on the Armed Forces of Malta to urgently rescue a group of 36 people stranded at sea southeast of the island, after their boat’s engine failed as night fell on Tuesday.
The group, fleeing Libya, reported they were unable to move on. Their coordinates place them about 110 kilometres from Malta, within its Search and Rescue Region, making the Maltese military responsible for coordinating assistance. Reaching the vessel could take six to eight hours.
“Night is coming and they need immediate rescue! Act for once, @Armed_Forces_MT!” the organisation posted on X, accusing the Maltese authorities of delaying responses to distress alerts. The appeal comes as Malta faces mounting criticism for its handling of Mediterranean migration. Rights groups accuse the government of outsourcing rescues to Libyan militias, despite Libya being deemed unsafe for returns.
In recent years, official rescues have plunged. According to the Malta Migration Archive, the Armed Forces saved only 2–3% of nearly 80,000 people in distress between 2020 and 2024. During the same period, rescues dropped by 90%, while interceptions by Libyan forces surged by 230%. AlarmPhone says calls to Malta often go unanswered. “We get either a recorded song or a curt ‘We are busy’,” said spokesperson Hela Kanakane. Since 2020, more than 5,000 people have been forcibly returned to Libya from Malta’s search zone, where they risk torture in militia-run detention centres. At least 1,700 have died during crossings, while civil society vessels remain the main rescuers.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
