Peppi Azzopardi Calls Out Critics Of Malta’s Migrant Rescue Mission: ‘Did You Want Them To Drown On Good Friday?’
Xarabank host Peppi Azzopardi has used biblical terms to criticise people who condemned the Maltese government’s decision to rescue a group of 66 asylum seekers.
“Are you condemning and insulting the Prime Minister for deciding not to let these people drown?” Azzopardi questioned. “Do you also defend the Crucifixion without knowing that Jesus was crucified precisely because he said ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’?”
“Is it possible that you wanted the Prime Minister to allow these people to drown on Good Friday? I express solidarity with Robert Abela and disassociate myself from the verbal abuse that has been aired against him and against our migrant brothers.”
Malta’s armed forces last night rescued 66 migrants who were on a boat in the island’s search and rescue region. However, the government also announced that it won’t be accepting anymore irregular migrants after declaring its own ports “unsafe” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Over the months and years, Malta was under disproportionate pressure in terms of migrant arrivals and had barely received any tangible help, yet it still saved thousands of lives,” the government said.
“Now that the Superintendent of Public Health had declared a public health emergency, the government has decided that any further disembarkations of irregular migrants, who themselves could be infected by the virus, will seriously prejudice all the work that has been done to combat the spread.”
Malta’s decision came a day after Italy declared its own ports unsafe to stop asylum seekers arriving.