The 51 illegal immigrants aboard the Spanish trawler Francisco Catalina,will be flown to Spain on Thursday after diplomatic efforts paid off and the Spanish government agreed to take in most of them. Discussions regarding who should take responsibility for the Eritrean illegal immigrants rescued by a Spanish trawler in Libyan territorial waters had been taking place ever since their arrival in Maltese waters on Saturday. The Spanish vessel remained anchored off the Maltese coast for at least five days after it was refused permission to dock in Malta since.
 The illegal immigrants will be brought to the Malta International Airport and board a military plane which will fly them to Spain.
On Wednesday Spanish Police arrived in Malta in a bid to solve the standoff between Malta, Spain and Libya regarding who should take responsibility for the illegal immigrants. Speaking to BBC World Service Maltese Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said that “the vessel had picked up illegal immigrants in Libya’s Search and Rescue Area and that therefore Malta is under no obligation to take them in. This is the bone of contention. Malta has a high enough burden already.”
Three of the illegal immigrants were brought to Malta for a brief while for medical treatment.
Earlier on during the week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) both underlined the urgent need to disembark the illegal immigrants as soon as possible.
In turn, another 25 illegal immigrants reached Malta on Wednesday morning. The 13 men, seven women and 5 children made it to the Birżebbuġia coast on a small vessel at around 0500CEST. Police arrived on location briefly afterwards and are investigating the case.
This latest influx of illegal immigrants means that since January 2006 1,194 illegal immigrants have arrived in Malta.
Read more about this issue on MaltaMedia's special feature:
Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations.
See also:
Illegal immigrants in Malta for treatment
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 19, 2006, 10:23 CET
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