Malta Rescues 66 Migrants From Its Waters But Promises They Will Be The Last
At least 66 migrants were rescued last night at around 10:30pm and brought into Isla Harbour.
A number of migrants were reportedly given medical treatment upon disembarking. The rescue comes just hours after Malta announced it was declaring it’s ports “unsafe” due to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.
Malta’s announcement came after a similar announcement by the Italian government. However, Malta had pledged to rescue this group of migrants before closing off its ports to future rescues.
The watchdog group Alarm Phone referred to the announcement in a tweet confirming the migrants’ rescue last night.
“We call on Malta to stop non-assistance and attacks on people in distress! Do not use #Covid19 as an excuse to violate fundamental human rights!
Finally, at 7.35h today, Malta confirmed to us that the people (66 in total) were disembarked at ~22.30h last night, ~41h after first alert. We call on Malta to stop non-assistance & attacks on people in distress! Do not use #Covid19 as excuse to violate fundamental human rights!
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 10, 2020