Update: The government said it would be providing any assistance to the stranded vessels in case of an emergency, adding that any relocation agreement should include 249 migrants rescued by Malta over Christmas. MaltaToday reports astatement by the Maltese government saying that Malta will be granting any assistance to the Sea-Watch 3 and Prof Albrecht Penck in the case of any emergency, as it is bound to do by law, the government said on Tuesday, adding that it wanted to see conclusions on a relocation agreement concluded in the coming hours.
The two vessels remain stranded off the coast of Malta carrying a total of 49 rescued migrants. 32 migrants were rescued by the Sea-Watch 3 on 22 December, with the remaining 17 migrants having been rescued a week later by the Prof Albrecht Penck.
The government said in a statement that discussions on an ad hoc relocation agreement were ongoing and that the Maltese government wanted to see them concluded “in the coming hours”
“Malta is once again being called to take upon itself responsibilities which are beyond its remit when it comes to showing European solidarity in practice,” the government said. It reiterated that Malta had no legal competence in the migrants’ rescue, adding that NGO vessels had intercepted the migrants in the Libyan SRR, closer to Libya, Tunisia, and Italy.
“The NGOs were denied entry in other European and non-European safe ports and proceeded to loiter in Maltese territorial waters,” read the statement. The government noted that while “these cases were happening”, Malta had rescued a further 249 migrants, “fulfilling all its obligations as it has always done”.
“Now Malta, the smallest European Union member state, is being called upon to disembark migrants on these NGO boats. Similar cases happened a few months ago with Malta taking an active role in providing effective solidarity,” the government said.
“In this context, Malta believes that the discussion on ad hoc relocation should not be limited to the persons on board the two NGO vessels, but should be extended to a portion of the persons who have been rescued and are already in Malta, as a sign of goodwill.”
Earlier, Italian News Agency ANSA is reporting that France and Germany are ready to take 100 persons from Malta as diplomatic efforts have intensified at European Level to find a solution to the impasse which is leading to the situation of 49 people on board to rescue boats off Malta’s shores.
German interior minister Horst Seehofer said, “I find this a healthy balance between migration management and the humanitarian action.”
A minister’s spokesman said that there are currently 298 persons which need to be redistributed, 249 of whom are already in Malta and the others on the two NGO ships.
ANSA says that the redistribution numbers offered are not sufficient to satisfy Malta’s request to transfer the 249 arrived in December. It is reported that this the reason why the EU Commission proposes to transfer only those who have the possibility of obtaining asylum.
Meanwhile Forty-three NGOs and organisations have called on the Maltese government to put people before politics and allow the two stranded NGO vessels with 49 migrants onboard to dock in Malta, The Malta Independent reports.
In a joint statement read out in front of the Prime Minister’s office at Castille, the organisations said that they were “ shocked” and “appalled beyond words” that these 49 migrants remain stuck off Maltese shores.
They described the situation as being “nothing short of tragic and shameful”, saying that it made it very clear that as individuals and countries “we have completely lost our humanity”.
Acknowledging the “issues that the situation raises”, the statement reads that this is a European challenge requiring a European solution. However, they said, this cannot be “an excuse to abdicate our responsibility to save lives at any cost”.
