From Libya To Marsascala On A Small Boat? Police Doubt Story Of Arrested Migrants
The Syrian family and the four other men arrived in Marsascala yesterday on a small boat (right) – Photos: Stills from TVM footage
The police have held four migrants under arrest after doubting their version of events that they travelled all the way from Libya to Marsascala in a small fibreglass boat.
The boat caused a stir when it turned up in Marsacala yesterday evening, carrying a Syrian family of five, two other Syrian men and two Libyan men.
The migrants were carrying rucksacks and wearing winter clothes, while an elderly passenger – possibly the father of the Syrian family – used as a cane as he stumbled towards the police van.
Did this Syrian boy travel by boat all the way from Libya to Malta?
Lovin Malta is reliably informed that the Syrian family – a mother, a father, two adult children and a minor boy – have been sent to the initial reception centre in Marsa for processing and potential acquisition of refugee status.
Their fellow passengers – two Libyan men and two Syrian men – are being interrogated by the police about their trip. They are claiming they sailed all the way from Libya, which if true would mean they had travelled over 1,100 km by sea. However, the police doubt their version of events and have held them in the lock-up for further questioning. After 48 hours, they must either prosecute the men or release them.
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