The EU island state of Malta has several ships with more than 400 migrants on board entering the port after loud international protests. Most of the people had been stuck on small quarantine ships off the Mediterranean for weeks. At the same time, the government in Valletta accused the other EU countries of lacking solidarity.
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“The government is unwilling to endanger the lives of both migrants and the occupation, given that the Member States of the European Union show no solidarity with the takeover,” said a government announcement. “No European country wants to accept these migrants, although there was talk of solidarity,” criticized the government.
First, the “Europa II”, originally used as a tourist boat, entered a port near Valletta, reported the newspaper “Times of Malta”. The ship was accompanied by two patrol boats.
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According to officially unconfirmed reports, there was previously a revolt by the migrants against the occupation. Malta’s government spoke of a “difficult situation” on board. She has rented four tourist boats to detain migrants outside their territorial waters for a corona quarantine.
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Aid organizations and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, had sharply criticized the procedure. They asked to finally let people ashore. The government said that “intensive negotiations with other EU member states on the takeover” were ongoing.
Malta, like Italy in the corona pandemic, had declared itself a non-safe haven for migrants. These often start in boats from Libya. Many are in distress. In April had refugees serious allegations against the Maltese military raised: According to this, soldiers had deliberately damaged the migrants’ ship and thus put them at risk.
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