On Monday, 21 May 2007, a small and crowded migrant boat was spotted some south of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

by the Maltese Air Force, and photographed while the 53 people on board were apparently trying to bail out water. Then the boat went missing. No trace of the boat or its occupants was found by the Maltese boats sent to their search and rescue, and there was no means they could have reached the shore during the time span in between. Maltese authorities and the

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

confirmed the missing status of the boat. The state of peril in which the occupants of the boat found themselves at the time of their discovery was further confirmed by a cellphone call made by one occupant to a relative in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on the same day of 21 May, when the boat's engine was said to have stopped, with water coming into the boat. The event was the largest single disaster in terms of loss of life and involving migrant boats in the waters around Malta, a leading destination for migrants from Africa, until August 2008, when 71 migrants in one boat were feared drowned according to the accounts made by the eight survivors.

Background

Around 1,700 migrants land on Malta every year and due to the particular conditions of the sea journey they risk, it is very difficult to advance theories on what would have happened and to how many people when something goes wrong between Malta and the

north Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

n coast. At least 10,000 are estimated to have died trying to reach Europe in the decade prior to the 2007 wreck. In cases where they are rescued by a non-Maltese vessel, they become subject to long negotiations between states, as it happened when a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

trawler rescued 51 in 2006 and another Spanish

tug-boat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

rescued 26 in May 2007. There has been cases where migrants were found clinging to

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

pens. Most migrants try to reach further, particularly to Italy. In a further dimension, the arrival of illegal migrants became an issue between neighboring countries of the

Mediterranean basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...

and between those of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, of which Malta is the smallest member. Those who remain in Malta try to pick up employment opportunities in the country's very limited labour market and they spark and fuel explicit

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

reactions. Hostility towards migrants has also been extended against journalists, clergymen and lawyers who advocate their rights, like

Katrine Camilleri Katrine Camilleri (born February 24, 1970) is a Maltese, lawyer and Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Malta. She is known for her work for boat refugees and was awarded the Nansen Refugee Award in 2007. Early life and education Born i ...

, 2007

Nansen Refugee Award The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, Internally displaced person, displac ...

winner, whose car and house door was burned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malta migrant shipwreck, 2007, 05 2007 in Malta Maritime incidents in Malta Immigration to Malta Maritime incidents in 2007 Migrant boat disasters in the Mediterranean Sea