Some 101 migrants who had set off from Libya on April 8 in a rubber boat were intercepted three days later by a Maltese patrol when the island country was in sight, several of them told the NGO group Alarm Phone.

After dangerous manoeuvres that endangered the lives of the migrants, including pointing weapons at them to prevent them from continuing sailing to Malta, the Maltese military said it would instead help the dinghy reach Italy, the migrants said.

"They told us 'we will show you the route until Italy'. We said 'no, we don't have fuel'. They said 'ok, we will give you fuel'. They gave us five gallons, 40 litres," one told Alarm Phone, a crisis hotline for migrants in distress in the Mediterranean.

"They gave us an engine 45 or 40 Yamaha. We attached it and we put the fuel and they gave us a compass in a wooden box. They told us... go that way until you find yourselves in a city in Italy," the migrant was quoted as saying.

They landed in Sicily on April 12.

Malta and Italy have officially closed their ports to migrants during the coronavirus pandemic, a decision heavily criticised by aid groups.

Both countries say the EU does not do enough to help on the immigration issue. Malta is currently bickering with the EU over what to do with 162 migrants it is holding on commercial vessels outside its territorial waters.

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela, meanwhile, remains under investigation for his role in the death last month of at least five migrants who tried to sail from Libya to Italy.

Malta's Repubblika civil rights organisation filed two police reports alleging criminal inaction on the part of Abela and Maltese armed forces commander Jeffrey Curmi.

Its second report was filed against 11 crew members of a Maltese patrol boat who allegedly cut the cables of the migrant dinghy's motor.