‘Unfair And Unrealistic To Expect Malta To Solve Such A Huge Human Tragedy By Itself’: Foreign Minister
Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo has called for some form of international initiative to tackle the phenomenon of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, warning it is “unfair and unrealistic” to expect Malta to solve the problem by itself.
“Over 700,000 people are currently in Libya waiting to cross to Europe, and even a small percentage of those people can fill us up,” he wrote. “This wouldn’t be the first time that, in a heated issue, the people who suffer most are the ones who deserve it least, and that’s what is happening right now.”
Bartolo said that while it is unfair to blame Malta for the tragedy unfolding in our waters, where around 175 migrants have been left stuck in limbo, it is also unfair to blame the migrants themselves.
“Can we blame migrants for the poverty, persecution, corruption and wars [in their countries of origin] that force them to search for better lives in other countries?” he questioned.
“Can we blame them for the dirty business of human trafficking, which exploits them and profits off them and then leaves them in the middle of the sea without a care for their danger.”
Bartolo said blame should be shouldered by NATO, for advocating the removal of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi without paving a way forward after the civil war, by the EU for failing to come up with a way to regulate irregular migration, and by countries worldwide who have taken sides in Libya’s ongoing civil war.
“There should currently be at least a strong humanitarian programme for the Libyans and all those who live there,” he said. “Libya has been gripped by civil war and is now also facing the coronavirus. We are in the middle of a huge human tragedy and Malta alone cannot keep up. It isn’t fair or realistic to expect Malta to solve such a huge human tragedy by itself.”
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