This is the voice of a woman who is on the boat in distress with ~47 people. We spoke to her earlier today. She is 21 years old and her child is seven. pic.twitter.com/RMj8OXOyTi

— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 12, 2020

We told the people on the boat that their words were reaching a wide audience. They were happy to hear that people in Malta, Italy & elsewhere are protesting Europe’s non-assistance & demanding rescue. We hope rescue will not come too late. They are weak & their battery is low.

— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 12, 2020

Alarm Phone said the woman is currently on a boat of 47 people in Maltese waters. It has also recently spotted three other migrant boats in the Mediterranean sea, including two others, carrying 55 and 71 people each, in Maltese waters. 

“We told the people on the boat that their words were reaching a wide audience,” the hotline said. “They were happy to hear that people in Malta, Italy and elsewhere are protesting Europe’s non-assistance and demanding rescue. We hope rescue will not come too late. They are weak and their battery is low.”

Malta and Italy have both recently banned the arrival of irregular migrants by declaring their ports unsafe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli has also declared its ports unsafe for migrant returns due to ongoing shelling in the country.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has said Malta needs to focus all its resources on dealing with COVID-19 at home and that the EU has ignored its calls for assistance. The Nationalist Party today urged the government to rescue children, babies and pregnant women on board.