Two of the trawlers - the Dar Al Salam 1 and the Tremar - reached the migrant vessel early on April 14, guided by a Maltese military helicopter, Mr. But it had reached the area of jurisdiction of MaltaвЂ™s armed forces, making it MaltaвЂ™s responsibility under international maritime law to rescue its passengers and provide them with sanctuary. The stricken migrant vessel was still in international waters, according to coordinates provided by the migrants by satellite phone to Alarm Phone, an independent hotline for shipwrecked refugees. The trawlers were sent to intercept a migrant vessel attempting to reach Malta from Libya - and which had been issuing mayday calls for some 48 hours - and then return its passengers to Libya, Mr. Gafa had been asked to liaise with Libya on a separate matter that was unconnected to the episode. Caruana did not respond to requests for comment, but a government spokesman told The Times of Malta that Mr. Gafa, who said he had been asked by the Maltese prime ministerвЂ™s chief of staff, Clyde Caruana, to help coordinate the operation. The boats did not submit paperwork to the immigration police, and switched off their satellite tracking devices soon after leaving port, maritime databases show.Д«ut their mission had already been determined, said Mr. The three boats - the Dar Al Salam 1, the Salve Regina and the Tremar - departed at the request of the Maltese authorities, according to the captain of the Tremar, Amer Abdelrazek.ДЄ former Maltese official, Neville Gafa, said he was enlisted by the government that same night to use his connections in Libya to ensure the safe passage of the first two boats to Libya. The activity was first documented on the evening of April 12, when three aging blue trawlers left the Grand Harbour in Valletta, the Maltese capital, within an hour of each other. The Maltese government did not respond to multiple requests for comment. вЂњThe facts available raise serious concerns that we are seeing the emergence of a novel systematic pattern, such that may even put Maltese state officials in danger of criminal liability, at home or abroad,вЂќ Dr. вЂњIts methods chillingly resemble organized crime, and indeed the operations of people smugglers, which European policymakers so adamantly denounce.вЂќ вЂњAgainst a pattern of increased abuses against asylum seekers in recent years, this newest approach stands out,вЂќ said Itamar Mann, an expert in maritime and refugee law at the University of Haifa in Israel.

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