Malta hits back at Amnesty over migration report

Dec 16, 2010, 15:09 GMT

Valletta - An Amnesty International report criticizing Malta's handling of illegal migration is 'peppered with inaccuracies and inconsistencies,' the Maltese government said Wednesday.

In a strongly worded statement, the government said that the report was testimony to Amnesty's 'customary selective, subjective and warped evaluation' of the challenges that Malta faces with illegal immigration.

The reaction comes a day after Amnesty lambasted Malta's detention policy and claimed that migrants who were returned to Libya after having been rescued in international waters by Maltese and Libyan forces in July, had been tortured.

The report referred to the rescue operation on July 17, when 55 Somalis were rescued from a dinghy in distress. It said 28 were taken to Malta while 27 were returned to Libya. The Maltese government said Amnesty's assertions were exclusively based on the account of events by the migrants themselves.

'The government reiterates its position that persons rescued at sea are not subjected to Maltese jurisdiction, but have knowingly chosen to be rescued by the Maltese authorities rather than remain in a dangerous distress situation,' the statement said.

Thousands of lives have been saved in the central Mediterranean as a result of Maltese rescue forces, the government maintained.

Thousands of Africans fleeing on rickety boats have landed in Malta since 2001, most of whom mistake the tiny Mediterranean island for Italy. Arrivals to Malta have, however, declined dramatically in the past year as a result of the controversial push back policy between Italy and Libya.