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‘Human Beings Come First’: PN Leader Urges Malta To Take In 507 Stranded Migrants’

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Opposition leader Adrian Delia has urged the government to take in over 500 migrants stranded on rescue ships in the Mediterranean sea.

Delia has taken to a Facebook post earlier today to express his concerns with the lack of political action ‘to do the right thing’ in the case of over 500 migrants currently stranded at sea aboard two humanitarian rescue vessels.

The Opposition leader feels that these migrants are being used as ‘political pawns’ and appeals to the moral obligations of political leaders to ‘rise above populism where human lives are concerned’ and as a country, accept the migrants on our shores.

In his post, Delia acknowledges Malta’s physical limitations when it comes to accommodating displaced people but believes that, above all else, we have a moral obligation to fend for those who are vulnerable.

He urges the Maltese government to accommodate the migrants with the help of other EU countries who should follow with immediate action and step in and ‘distribute people accordingly’.

These comments come after a heightened week of activity on the Mediterranean seas, including a medical evacuation aboard the vessel ‘Open Arms’ and the death of another migrant on a dinghy.

The UNHCR also appealed to EU governments to allow the 507 passengers to disembark, stating that “to leave people who have fled war and violence in Libya on the high seas in this weather would be to inflict suffering upon suffering.

They must be immediately allowed to dock, and allowed to receive much-needed humanitarian aid,” said Vincent Cochetel from the UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean.

So far 151 people remain on board the Open Arms boat while 356 people more have been rescued in recent days by the Ocean Viking.

Featured Image: Hannah Wallace Bowman/MSF/Sos Mediterranee via AP

READ NEXT: Maltese Army Publishes Raw Photo Of Migrant Who Died On Rubber Dinghy With A Companion

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