Maltese navy seizes tanker hijacked by migrants

Malta's navy said that a special operations team has taken control of a tanker that was hijacked by migrants off the coast of Libya. The ship arrived at a Maltese port on Thursday morning.

The migrants had seized the vessel which rescued them off the coast of Libya, and directed it north toward Europe, according to Italian and Maltese authorities.

The Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) said in a statement that a unit "was dispatched to board and secure the vessel in order to hand over control of the ship back to the captain."

The navy said the ship would be redirected to Malta where it would be boarded by police.

The Elhiblu 1 rescued 108 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday and sailed toward the Libyan capital, Tripoli. But six nautical miles from port, it reversed course.

"These are not migrants in distress, they are pirates, they will only see Italy through a telescope," said Salvini, Italy's hardline interior minister, who has cracked down on illegal immigration, including closing Italy's ports to charity ships, since he took office in June last year.

"This is clearly a case of organized crime," Salvini said on Facebook. "Our ports remain closed."

A private group that operates a rescue ship and monitors how governments treat migrants, Mediterranea, urged compassion for the group on the hijacked vessel and said it hoped European countries would act "in the name of fundamental rights, remembering that we are dealing with human beings fleeing hell."

Mass migration to Europe has dropped sharply since 2015, when the continent received one million refugees and migrants from countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

European Union member countries, responding to domestic opposition to welcoming immigrants, have decided to significantly downscale an EU operation in the Mediterranean, withdrawing their ships and continuing the mission with air surveillance only.

EU officials on Wednesday lamented the move.

"This shameful decision has nothing to do with the needs of people who risk their lives at sea, but everything to do with the inability of European governments to agree on a way to share responsibility for them," de Bellis said.

(CGTN)