VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltese authorities are facing renewed criticism after allegedly failing to collaborate in at least two migrant distress cases within a single week, according to humanitarian organisations. On 26 December, a group of 34 asylum seekers was rescued within Malta’s Search and Rescue (SAR) zone by the merchant vessel MV MARIDIVE 703.
Nearly 48 hours later, they remain stranded at sea, with no permission to disembark at a safe port. Humanitarian group Alarm Phone said Maltese authorities have refused to provide information on the group’s status, warning they risk being forcibly returned to Tunisia, which is not considered a safe port under international law. The case follows another incident earlier this week in which the Armed Forces of Malta denied receiving distress calls from a migrant boat allegedly attacked by the Libyan coastguard in Malta’s SAR zone, leaving one person dead and three injured. Alarm Phone has repeatedly accused Malta of failing to answer emergency calls.
“When we call Malta, we hear a recorded song or they tell us ‘we are busy,’” said spokeswoman Hela Kanakane. Data from the Malta Migration Archive shows Malta rescued just 2–3% of people in distress in its SAR zone between 2020 and 2024, as returns to Libya increased. The incidents come amid rising deaths in the Central Mediterranean, where at least 1,190 people have died or gone missing in 2025, according to the IOM.
– Photo IPA Agency Archive –
(ITALPRESS).
