AFM says 110 migrants have reached Italian territory
Updated 7.15pm
All migrants reportedly stranded at sea have safely reached Italian territory, the Armed Forces of Malta said on Tuesday, contradicting claims made by humanitarian organisations.
The AFM released a statement after 37 civil society organisations expressed their concern about the fate of over 100 men, women and children reportedly in distress at sea.
Media reports on Sunday said a group of 110 people may be unaccounted for, with emergency hotline NGO Alarm Phone accusing the Armed Forces of Malta of ordering a rescue vessel to leave the scene of the drifting migrants' boat.
But the AFM said that the people aboard the boat had expressed a desire to reach Italy and had done so "on their own steam."
AFM provided a photograph, taken moments prior to the boat's entry in Italian territory, Lampedusa.
"The boat in the image reproduced, powered by two outboard engines and on a steady course and speed, is the same boat being portrayed by some media outlets as adrift at sea."
The AFM insisted that all allegations of boats sinking, left adrift or rescues being hindered are "false and unfounded".
Times of Malta had reached out to the AFM for information about the boats in...