Young Maltese activist Xandru Cassar has written to President George Vella, urging him to intervene to convince Malta to save the lives of migrants stranded at sea.

In a powerful letter addressed to the President, Cassar condemned the government’s failure to protect lives of migrants fleeing Libya, warning that it now had blood on its hands after the International Organisation of Migration said five people were found dead on a migrant boat in Malta’s search and rescue zone.

“The exhausted, dehydrated people on that dinghy were guilty only of the crime of wanting to live without the threat of being killed. For this, our political leaders were ready to tarnish Malta’s name – our name – for the despicable act of sending innocents hoping to live, to their death,” he wrote.

Earlier today, the International Organisation of Migration said five dead people were found on a migrant boat in Malta’s search and rescue zone. It said the other 47 migrants on board were rescued by a commercial vessel in the region and handed over to the Libyan coast guard.  

The Maltese government argued that the boat had been in distress for a number of days while it was still in Libya’s search and rescue and that the EU had flown its aircraft’s over the area but didn’t send in any vessels to pick up the migrants. 

It said Malta’s Rescue and Coordination Centre followed the established coordination procedures once the boat entered the islands’ search and rescue area and communicated the boat’s position through the NAVTEX system, which provides urgent maritime information to ships.

The Armed Forces of Malta also made a number of flights to pinpoint the boat’s exact location, after which it called nearby vessels to assist. A commercial vessel was dispatched to the boat’s location for assistance and a Libyan fishing vessel later took the migrants on board.

Earlier this week, Cassar spent the night outside the Prime Minister’s office in protest against the government’s decision to close its ports to migrants seeking asylum.

This is Xandru Cassar’s letter in full

Your Excellency Dr. George Vella,

On Wednesday afternoon, five refugees who had been in Maltese territorial waters seeking refuge died of exhaustion and dehydration. A further 47 were returned to Libya where they are likely to face detention, torture, abuse and death. The Maltese state is responsible for the death of the 5 refugees and the return of 47 others to Libya.

The hard-headedness, inaction and inhumanity of the Maltese state is the cause of this. The State has blood on its hands. So why is it that Malta refused to rescue over 50 people who were left floating in rough seas for a week without water or food?

Our government has shown a chilling disregard for the lives of these people; it has traded their lives, their families’ lives, and their future, for political convenience. Our government’s spinelessness, and its failure to act to protect and preserve human life betrays any regard for humanity, justice and international law.

But it won’t just be five bodies who will draw their last breath at Malta’s indifferent doorstep. Its inaction and its conscious disregard for the sanctity of life has condemned 47 fellow human beings to torture and death in Libya. Its cold bloodedness has killed 5 people.

The exhausted, dehydrated people on that dinghy were guilty only of the crime of wanting to live without the threat of being killed. For this, our political leaders were ready to tarnish Malta’s name – our name – for the despicable act of sending innocents hoping to live, to their death.

There are no two ways about it. Our political leaders have laden the country with the indissoluble stain of the death of more than 5 human beings.

As a doctor, your Excellency has dedicated his life to saving lives, but Robert Abela’s administration has killed more people in one week than COVID-19 has killed in Malta in one month.

The Maltese Government could have saved these people; it chose not to. This is what our government has come to. We have condemned our brothers, sisters and children. No mourning will ever be enough. Nothing can dampen the profound shame which those responsible should feel. Nothing can dampen the profound shame that Malta feels.

Our country has failed to do the bare minimum: save human lives. It is too late now; these people are dead, and Malta has killed them.

I call on you, in your role as Head of State, but also as a physician, to intervene and ensure that Malta will not allow more lives to be lost.

Xandru Cassar