The Nationalist Party has called for Malta’s government to save the most vulnerable migrants out at sea, namely babies, children and pregnant women after the island declared it would stop accepting migrant vessels.

“How we act in the face of the vulnerable distinguishes us as a people. As Maltese, we gave so much during wars and sieges, and we never lost our sense of humanity; to leave even one newborn or child in danger would mean that we have reached the bottom and we have truly lost our identity as a people,” the PN said in a statement today.

“That is why the Nationalist Party is calling on the government to save the vulnerable, especially babies, children and pregnant women who are in serious danger.”

We have fought wars. We have waged battle. We withstood long under siege. But we never lost our humanity. Allowing a child to drown we will sink into the abyss.

— Adrian Delia (@adriandeliapn) April 12, 2020

They said the government had “clearly” failed when it came to immigration, and that it had “lost control of the situation”, with each day making it worse.

When it came to the issue of migrants centres, where over a thousand people are currently locked up under quarantine at the Ħal Far open centre, they said the government was not prepared and hadn’t thought ahead.

“The government knows it has an international humanitarian obligation that it needs to uphold,” they said.

The PN said that not only was the government ready to let children suffer but that it was happy to let its public officials get away with openly saying they would sink migrant ships if they could, a reference to comments recently passed by the head of Malta’s Social Welfare Agency Alfred Grixti.

They ended by calling for serious and consistent leadership that wouldn’t lead to Malta “losing its values and leaving us with the blood of the innocent on our hands”.

What do you think of the PN’s strong statement?