Prime Minister Robert Abela has broken down what he says went down on four vessels that were housing over 425 migrants about one nautical mile out of Maltese waters last night.

“The migrants had taken over the lower deck, our crew were on the upper deck, and they gave us 30 minutes to make a decision,” Abela claimed in an interview with Labour Party media ONE. 

Abela said that migrants had entered a kitchen and seized a number of knives after 40 days left floating at seas in small commercial vessels. No official press conference on last night’s incident has been given yet, with Abela giving the shocking information via his Labour Party-controlled channel.

Crew members called Abela directly, asking him to help them, he said.

The increasingly desperate migrants eventually attempted to take over the ship, which had a Maltese crew and threatened to explode a gas cylinder and burn rubbish if they were not taken to land.

Abela said he recognises people’s anger over what happened last night and was also angered by the lack of response from the European Union on what is a pan-European problem who had left the island to “deal with a complex issue alone”.

He said that when weighing last night’s decision, he had to choose between a populist decision and one that places the safety of workers on board first.

Choosing the latter, he also explained why he decided against using force to board the ships and take them back by force, saying the risk for injury or damage to the ship was too great.

What do you think of this explanation?