Abdalla, Amara and Kader were aged 15, 16 and 19 when they were hit with terror-related charges in 2019 for allegedly coercing the captain of El Hiblu 1, who had rescued them and a group of migrants, to change his ship’s course from Libya to Malta.

The court case has been ongoing since, with the latest sitting – which Tesfaiesus personally attended – held yesterday.

“I am a lawyer myself, I respect the courts and I don’t want to pass judgement before the courts have finished their examination,” she said. “However, I wonder how three teenagers without any weapons could have hijacked. I can only imagine that these people were in a very troubled state, but how could it be terrorism in the sense of threatening the captain?”

Born in Eritrea before moving to Germany as a child where she acquired refugee status, Tesfaiesus can sympathise with the ‘El Hiblu 3’ on a personal level.

“They’re really nice guys, they’re working, paying taxes and having a decent life now,” she said. “However, they’re frustrated and feel the process is taking very, very long… three years is a long time for a teenager.”

“Even if they win the case, they wonder what future they can have in Malta. I originally came to Germany as a refugee but I had a chance to grow up there, acquire German nationality and become part of the society. They don’t see those same prospects for them in Malta.”

Abdalla, Amara and Kader were among a large group of African migrants who were rescued by the El Hiblu 1 oil tanker after their dinghy started taking water.

However, relief soon turned to horror as the migrants realised the captain was taking them back to Libya, and not to Europe. As tensions broke out, the captain steered the boat to Malta, the closest European port, where Latin, Abdul and Abdalla were arrested and hit with terror-related charges.

What exactly happened on board remains unclear. The captain, Nadar El-Hiblu, said that while no violence was used, the migrants acted aggressively to the point crew members had to lock themselves up in a room.

Describing the three young men as the “ringleaders” and said he only changed his course out of fear that the migrants would outnumber his crew.

However, other migrants who were on board painted a different picture of events, stating that the ‘El Hiblu 3’ acted as mediators between the captain and the rest of the migrants because they were the only ones who could speak in English.

A migrant testified that while they did shout out when they found out they were being returned to Libya, they obeyed the captain when he told them to calm down. The captain then decided to send them to Europe.  

The plight of the ‘El Hiblu 3’ has made waves internationally, with the United Nations denouncing the terrorism charges as “exaggerated” and Amnesty International urging the authorities to drop the case.

Tesfaiesus said she intends to speak about the case when she returns to Germany. 

“We’re taught about European values, which is easy to say in the north of Europe when you don’t see all these bad things happening outside your door,” she said.

“However, we’re now paying Libya to do something we don’t want to do ourselves… we’ve seen Libya shooting at these boats, and we’re paying for it while speaking about European values. It doesn’t make sense.”

Cover photo: Left: The El Hiblu 3 after a court sitting on Thursday, Right: German MP Awet Tesfaiesus (Photos: Awet Tesfaiesus – Instagram)

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