On 8 June, the Times of Malta reported that according to the Malta Migration Archive (a new online migration research tool launched on 9 June), rescues of migrant boats by Malta’s armed forces have dropped by 90% since Malta signed a secretive migration coordination deal with Libya in May 2020, while interceptions by Libyan militia forces surged by 230%.
In 2020, migrant boats were roughly three times more likely to be rescued by Armed Forces Malta in Malta’s search and rescue zone than be intercepted by a Libyan militia vessel, with 21 Maltese rescues and 7 by Libyans. In 2024, this had reversed with only 2 Maltese rescues and 23 interceptions by the Libyan coastguard. This suggests that by last year, a migrant boat in distress in Malta’s rescue zone was around 10 times more likely to be intercepted by Libyan militia vessels than rescued by Maltese forces. All the cases listed by the archive were within Malta’s search and rescue zone. The Times of Malta noted that UNHCR data on the number of sea arrivals to Malta appear to back up the findings, with around 2,300 arrivals in Malta in 2020, falling to 832 in 2021, and 238 in 2024.