Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of August 2020

Case name: 20200829-CM290

Situation: AFM provided life jackets to 50 people in distress but then send them to Italy

Status of WTM Investigation: concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

The early morning of 29th of August 2020 the Alarm Phone was called by a boat in distress that departed from Al Khoms, Lybia. The people on board told us they were at sea for already two days and were exhausted and out of water and food. They were 50 people on board, among them a pregnant woman. We informed the authorities of Malta and Italy at 05:09h CEST about the case via email and pass them their GPS position. We also tried to phone, but RCC Malta was not reachable and MRCC Rome didn´t want to share any information. At 08:44h CEST we got a new GPS position from the boat, which we passed to the authorities. RCC Malta was still not reachable nor reacting to the emails. We tweeted about the case. The people on the boat called us again at 11:50h CEST and told us 5 people would go to die. At 12.44h CEST we got information from Moonbird who was flying in the area and spotted the boat. Moonbird provided an updated position of the boat and saw approximately 55 people on board and also an Armed Forces Malta (AFM) patrol boat that stood just beside and was distributing life jackets but not rescuing. Moonbird also informed the authorities of Malta and Italy about their observation and claimed for assistance to the boat in distress. We tried often to reach the travellers again but the contact got lost when AFM approached it. At 14.33h CEST Moonbird contacted again RCC Malta to emphasize the need of assistance to the people in distress. However RCC Malta didn´t respond at any time to any phone call or email.

On the next day, the 30th of August, at 19.15h CEST we learned that the boat landed in Siracusa, Sicily! This led us to the conclusion that RCC Malta obliged the people to leave Maltese waters and to continue their journey to Sicily.

Twitter chronology:

29.08.2020, 11.17h- "A boat with ~50 people on board, risking their lives to flee the horrors of Libya, is in distress in Malta SAR zone! At 5.09 CEST we alerted Italian & Maltese authorities, but there is no indication they will intervene. @ArmedForcesMT, you have the obligation to rescue NOW!"

29.08.2020, 14:13h- #Moonbird spotted the ~50 people in distress, @ArmedForcesMT vessel was close, but left again. #Malta, do your duty and rescue the people!

29.08.2020, 14:28h- @ArmedForcesMT, is this what you call rescue? Giving out life vests and leaving people alone on an unstable rubber boat that could get into serious trouble at any moment on the high seas in no way means that you are fulfilling your duties!

30.08.2020, 11:24h- WHERE ARE THEY? The ~55 people in the blue rubber boat were spotted last time 25nm miles close to #Malta yesterday late afternoon. Since then, we have lost track of them. We demand Maltese authorities to provide info about their fate!

30.08.2020, 22:03h retweeted SW's tweet- Again, @ArmedForcesMT have proven that their role is not Search & Rescue, but preventing people from reaching #Malta at any cost. Rather than rescuing people in distress, they illegally abandoned them at sea, forcing them to continue a dangerous journey to Italy.