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VALLETTA - Malta refused to take in a group of 26 North African migrants today, leaving them stranded on board a Spanish tug-boat which rescued them from rough Mediterranean seas.
The tug, Mont Falco, was holding its position some 140km south of Malta on Monday after the island state told the captain it would not take in the migrants.
Malta insists the migrants, rescued on Saturday, were picked up well within the Libyan search and rescue area.
"We are doing more than we are obliged to do, but in this case the incident took place in Libya's search and rescue zone, not Malta's," Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg told a news conference.
He said Malta was prepared to provide supplies to the tug boat. He said Madrid had told the Maltese armed forces that the situation onboard had deteriorated but was not life threatening.
Malta refused to take 51 migrants rescued by a Spanish trawler in similar circumstances last year.
The issue was resolved after a standoff lasting several days, with the migrants going to Spain, Andorra, Libya and Italy, although Malta took three who needed medical treatment.
The Mediterranean island has been struggling with a steady influx of migrants in May and unexpectedly rough seas are thought to have caused a number of boats to founder.
On May 18, a 21-year-old man from Ivory Coast was the sole survivor from among 30 migrants whose boat capsized 75 miles south of Malta.
Three days later a Maltese aircraft photographed a boat with 57 migrants taking in water 80 miles southeast of Malta but no trace of them was found by the time patrol boats arrived.
On Saturday, 27 migrants were rescued by an Italian military vessel after they were found clinging to Maltese tuna pens in international waters.
A Maltese fishing boat had refused to take them on board, the owners arguing they posed a security threat to the four-man crew.
- REUTERS
