Maltese Military Seizes Tanker Hijacked by Rescued Migrants Off Libya

Army forces and migrants stand onboard Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued off Libya, docked at Boiler Wharf in Valletta's Grand Harbor on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. (Photo by Matthew MIRABELLI / AFP)
Army forces and migrants stand onboard Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued off Libya, docked at Boiler Wharf in Valletta's Grand Harbor on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. (Photo by Matthew MIRABELLI / AFP)
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Maltese Military Seizes Tanker Hijacked by Rescued Migrants Off Libya

Army forces and migrants stand onboard Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued off Libya, docked at Boiler Wharf in Valletta's Grand Harbor on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. (Photo by Matthew MIRABELLI / AFP)
Army forces and migrants stand onboard Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued off Libya, docked at Boiler Wharf in Valletta's Grand Harbor on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. (Photo by Matthew MIRABELLI / AFP)

A tanker that was hijacked by rescued migrants off Libya docked in Malta on Thursday after a Maltese special operations team boarded the vessel and returned control to the captain.

The Palau-flagged tanker El Hiblu I had picked up the 108 migrants, including women and children, in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday evening and then headed back to Tripoli.

But six nautical miles from port, the ship suddenly changed course and headed north toward Europe.

Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Wednesday the vessel had been hijacked and vowed that the migrants would not be allowed to disembark in Italy.

The 52-meter tanker was about 30 nautical miles from Malta when the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) established communications with the captain.

"The captain repeatedly stated that he was not in control of the vessel and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a number of migrants to proceed to Malta," the AFM said in a statement on Thursday morning.

"AFM Patrol Vessel P21 stopped the tanker from entering the Maltese territorial waters.

"An AFM Special Operations Unit team was dispatched to board and secure the vessel in order to hand over control of the ship to the captain."

It said the team was backed up by a patrol vessel, two fast interceptor craft and a helicopter.

Escorted by the Maltese navy, the tanker arrived in the port of Valetta around 8:30am.

Journalists saw migrants suspected of having hijacked the tanker being handcuffed by Malta’s police and put in a prison van.

A private group that operates a rescue ship and monitors how governments treat migrants, Mediterranea, urged compassion for the group on the 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."



The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
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The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict arrive at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo)

The pace and scale of Afghans returning from Iran are overwhelming already fragile support systems, a senior UN official warned Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people crossing the border daily exhausted and traumatized, relying on humanitarian aid.

So far this year, more than 1.4 million people have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including over 1 million from Iran.

Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn’t leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule, The AP news reported.

The UN special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, called for immediate international support for Afghanistan following a visit to the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province near Iran.

The “sheer volume of returns —many abrupt, many involuntary,” should be setting off alarm bells across the global community, Otunbayeva said.

“Without swift interventions, remittance losses, labor market pressures and cyclical migration will lead to devastating consequences such as the further destabilization of both returnee and host populations, renewed displacement, mass onward movement, and risks to regional stability,” she said.

Returns from Iran peaked in June following a 20 March government deadline requiring all “undocumented” Afghans to leave. The UN migration agency recorded more than 28,000 people crossing back into Afghanistan on June 25.

Afghanistan is a ‘forgotten crisis’ Most Afghans depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. But deep funding cuts are worsening the situation, with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations forced to cut education and health care programs.

Nicole van Batenburg, from the International Federation of the Red Cross, said Afghan children returning from Iran are developing scabies, fever and other illnesses because of deteriorating conditions at the border and the hot weather. Her colleagues were reuniting hundreds of children daily who got separated from their parents.

People lost their belongings and documents in the chaos of hasty exits. Most were only able to take a few suitcases with them, and some were now using their luggage as makeshift furniture.

“Afghanistan is an unseen crisis, and there are so many crises going on at this moment in the world that it seems to be forgotten,” van Batenburg told The Associated Press by phone from the border.

“The problems and the challenges are immense. We’re only talking about the situation here at the border, but these people have to return to some areas where they can live longer and where they can rebuild their lives.”

Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council said many of its staff were hosting returning families in their homes. Authorities were doing their best to mobilize the few resources they had, but local systems were not equipped to cope with “such tremendous” needs.