(Reuters) Malta on Friday rescued a group of 140 migrants from a sinking dinghy but refused to bring them to land, holding them instead on a chartered tourist harbour cruise boat just outside territorial waters.
The rescue was conducted by a Maltese patrol boat in the early hours of Friday after the dinghy drifted into Malta’s search and rescue region.
The migrants were transferred to the tourist boat on Friday afternoon. They join another two tourist boats chartered for the same purpose by the government just over two weeks ago and holding another 160 migrants.
The government has insisted it will not allow any migrants to land in Malta, saying other European Union nations have not kept promises to take migrants already brought to the island.
