More than 300 people have died in the central Mediterranean attempting the crossing from North Africa to Europe between 17 and 27 April, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project.

In response to the increasing number of deaths, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) has meanwhile accused Malta of continuing to turn a blind eye to the situation through its concerted and “notorious non-response tactics”.

As lives continue to be lost in the central Mediterranean, the ECRE said, “Malta continues non-response tactics and Italy continues to delay disembarkation of survivors and thereby limiting much needed NGO rescue capacity.”

The renewed criticism come as the SOS Méditerranée’s Ocean Viking humanitarian assistance ship performed three rescues in seven hours in Malta’s Search and Rescue (SAR) zone and saved 153 people that Malta is meant to be responsible for.

The rescues, it said, were coordinated by the Italian authorities.

The rescues, which were conducted within hours of each other involved migrant vessels in distress carrying 59, 65 and 29 people respectively, SOS Mediterranée said.

#OceanViking first rescued two overcrowded wooden boats, one with 59 people & less than 3h later, another with 65 people. The survivors of the two boats reported to have spent 4 days at sea, exposed to all elements & suffer from exhaustion and dehydration. pic.twitter.com/ETyo0A3SI1

— SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) April 28, 2023

It reported they had spent four days at sea exposed to all the elements and were suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.

The Ocean Viking is currently carrying a total of 168 survivors it has rescued, which includes seven women, four children and around 20 unaccompanied minors.

On Thursday, the ECRE updated its Asylum Information Database on Malta for 2022. It showed that asylum seekers applied for international protection in Malta last year. Of the applicants, the largest proportion, 25%, were from Syria, followed by Eritrea and Ukraine, accounting for around another 10% each.

The database showed that over 7,000 migrants were ignored by the authorities while in distress at sea, with Malta being directly involved in at least 14 migrant pushback incidents. The ECRE noted that all asylum seekers rescued at sea were automatically placed in detention for several weeks, despite the Covid-19 quarantine requirements having stopped in May 2022.

The people placed in detention included the vulnerable and children, including those that were unaccompanied.

The ECRE also noted that Malta had rejected asylum applications from all migrants from Egypt, Bangladesh and Senegal, based on the safe country of origin concept. Migrants from countries of origin that are deemed safe are quickly repatriated by the authorities.

On 16 April, Alarm Phone accused Maltese authorities of ordering merchant vessels not to assist two boats carrying some 60 migrants in need of assistance within Malta’s SAR zone, calling it a “cruel prevention of rescue”. Eventually, after repeated criticism and outcry, Maltese authorities gave the go-ahead for the people to be rescued.

In the almost four months preceding the operation, Malta had rescued just one migrant at sea according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.