MALTA has been warned not to send 78 people rescued in its waters today back to a war zone just days after the prime minister admitted that the government had co-ordinated the return of 51 refugees to war-torn Libya over Easter.

At least two groups of refugees on wooden boats attempted to flee Libya by crossing the Mediterranean at the weekend.

Sixty-seven people were rescued by the Italian coastguard near the island of Lampedusa on Saturday after 30 gruelling hours at sea.