Crew members of a ship on a mission to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe have reached Malta and have posed in front of Castille in a message of defiance to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. 

Lovin Malta can confirm the crew members did not reach Malta via the C-Star ship itself. The ship, branded by the European Parliament as a ‘ship of hate’, remains outside Maltese territorial waters. 

A spokesperson for Muscat said the crew had every right to enter Malta as EU citizens but the government will keep refusing entry to the C-Star ship itself.

“Our message is crystal clear. The C-Star is not welcome and as a country we reject all they stand for,” he said. 

Yet the ‘Defend Europe’ group manning the ship declared the entry of the crew as a victory over Joseph Muscat. 

“Joseph Muscat wanted to deny us water and entrance to Malta and, like all the others, he failed miserably,” it said on its Facebook page. “It’s our right as Europeans to enter Europe, and it’s our duty as Europeans to protect our borders from illegals. The era of politicians who are doing the exact opposite will soon be over. As the last episode of our successful mission showed, we cannot be stopped. We are growing stronger and they are getting weaker everyday.”

The C-Star ship has been left stranded off Malta for over a week after the Maltese authorities refused to grant them any sort of supplies or cooperation. Muscat said he made his decision because he doesn’t want Malta to be used by “Nazi-like” organisations. 

Earlier today, the crew posted a video message to Muscat, warning they will enter Malta “whether you like it or not”. A spokesperson for Muscat told Lovin Malta the government’s stance has not changed and the ship will continue to be refused entry. 

However, a few hours later, the crew said they had made it to the Valletta port where they contacted the Maltese ‘Patriots’ Movement’ party who had earlier delivered water and other supplies to their ship.

In their earlier video message, the ‘Defend Europe’ crew said the Maltese government has lifted its embargo and is now allowing them to buy water. However, it said the government is still refusing the ship entry into Malta by stopping any crew vessel that wants to get them off board and warned Muscat it will enter the island “whether you like it or not”. 

“We have some questions for Joseph Muscat,” the crew said in its video message. “Why do you let in thousands of illegal immigrants to Malta while closing your border to Europeans who did nothing illegal? Why do you claim to stand up for human rights while refusing European citizens in need of fresh water? Why are you pressuring all port agents and suppliers of Malta not to help us?”

“Mr Muscat, you are a hypocrite. All of the NGOs and migration supporters are hypocrites and your values of human rights and dignity are worth nothing.”

Do you think the ship should be allowed entry into Malta? Let us know in the comments’ section

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]