Since Sunday 4th of August a boat with 102 migrants has been drifting outside Malta’s territorial waters. After Malta refused to help, forcing them to stay inside Salamis, the boat that took these migrants through the Mediterranean Sea, Italy agreed to take them in. Italy’s decision was a compassionate one, as among the migrants there were four pregnant women, one of them injured and a four-months-old baby. Sources from Maltese government say that the decision was the result of diplomatic efforts between Italy and Malta, but once again Malta does not allow these desperate people to disembark in their territory.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweet “#Malta fulfils int’l obligations but can’t be expected to step in for irresponsible shipowners flouting rules for commercial purposes -JM” shows that Malta’s profit is more important than the humanitarian duty of rescuing people in danger. The order of sending the ship to Libya was given, even if Libya’s current political conditions are not suitable to welcome migrants. Moreover, Malta completely ignored the dangerous weather conditions and continued to refuse to disembark the people in the boat, standing for their opinions without considering EU warnings.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem thanked Italy with a Tweet, saying that it will be good if all the members of EU help refugees, not always the same countries. Today at 2.30 pm, Salamis arrived in Siracusa, in Italy. The 102 refugees would now find relief, along with medical support.