MV LifeLine : Media angles

Times of Malta: The charity boat Lifeline docked at Malta on Wednesday evening, bringing to an end a saga which had more than 200 migrants stranded at sea for six days. Permission for the ship to dock at Boiler Wharf in Senglea was given after eight European Union member states agreed to jointly distribute the 234 migrants aboard amongst themselves, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said. The operation was coordinated by the Malta Police Force, the Armed Forces of Malta, the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers, the Civil Protection Department, Transport Malta and the Health authorities.

The Malta Independent: The MV Lifeline has docked in Senglea, where the 234 migrants disembarked after spending the last six days stuck 25 miles off  Malta as EU countries battled for a solution to the impasse. The migrants, looking visibly tired and drained from their ordeal, were given first assistance by medical staff at Dock 8, before being transported to the Marsa Migration Centre.

Malta Today: The captain of the migrant rescue vessel that berthed in Malta on Wednesday evening is being interrogated by the police over ‘flag issues’, sources close to the investigation have told MaltaToday. The ship has been accused of acting as a rescue vessel when it is registered as a pleasure craft in the Netherlands. However, doubts have also been cast on whether the ship is authorised to fly the Dutch flag after the authorities in the Netherlands said it was not registered there. The ship captain was accused by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of precipitating the Lifeline crisis when he ignored orders from the Rome rescue coordination centre during last week’s rescue. However, sources close to the ship told MaltaToday that all orders were obeyed “except the order to return to Tripoli”. Human rights groups and the UN consider Libya to be unsafe for migrants, with many reporting being tortured and raped.

TVM: Malta, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg, Holland and Belgium have reached agreement to share between them the 234 immigrants on their arrival in Malta on board the MV Lifeline. In an afternoon media conference Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that although Malta was not under any legal obligations in the case and although the search and rescue operations had taken place in Libyan waters, Malta had intervened to prevent a humanitarian crisis after having reached agreement with some EU countries to accept those immigrants that have a right to protection. Dr Muscat said the arrival of the immigrants will be treated in two ways.

Newsbook: (Maltese Language)  234 immigrant daħlu fl-Isla abbord il-bastiment MV Lifeline, wara sitt ijiem bejn sema u ilma. Kien ftit qabel is-7.30pm meta l-bastiment trakka mal-moll f’Boilers Wharf, bil-persuni abbord ixejru u jċapċpu bi gratitudni li sabu port sigur li jilqagħhom.  Il-ħidma kienet koordinata mill-Korp tal-Pulizija, il-Forzi Armati ta’ Malta, l-Aġenzija għall-Ħarsien tal-Persuni li jfittxu l-Ażil, id-Dipartiment tal-Protezzjoni Ċivili, Transport Malta u l-awtoritajiet tas-saħħa. Tlett itrabi akkumpanjati mill-ġenituri tagħhom u tliet adulti ttieħdu l-Isptar Mater Dei. L-oħrajn ittieħdu fiċ-Ċentru Miftuħ tal-Marsa.

NET NEWS: (Maltese Language)  Il-Kap tal-Partit Nazzjonalista Adrian Delia staqsa jekk il-Gvern għandux pjan fit-tul dwar l-immigrazzjoni, fl-isfond li fil-ħin li ġej mistennija f’pajjiżna madwar 235 immigrant li jinsabu abbord l-MV Lifeline.

One News: (Maltese Language) Il-Prim Ministru Joseph Muscat jisħaq li Malta ma kellha l-ebda obbligu internazzjonali sabiex tgħin lill-vapur iżda għamlet dan fuq bażi umanitarju.

Others

AP:  The captain of a German humanitarian ship that spent nearly a week searching for safe harbor before being allowed to bring 234 migrants rescued at sea to Malta on Wednesday declared during the odyssey: “Saving people is not a crime.” Still, once he was on land he was placed under investigation for allegedly breaching maritime regulations. It is part of a growing trend in Europe and the United States: Private groups responding to images of human suffering and deaths targeted by authorities who are often under political and popular pressure to stem the migration tides.

ANSA: . E mentre il sole tramonta e dalla capitale della Cultura arrivano le note di un party, la Lifeline va incontro al suo destino. Sul molo l’attendono medici in tuta bianca, decine di poliziotti, ambulanze, sei pullman della polizia ed uno sparuto gruppo di ‘Patrioti maltesi’ che issa lo striscione ‘Stop human trafficking’. Le operazioni si concludono poco dopo le 21. Lo stallo si era sbloccato all’ora di pranzo, quando il premier Joseph Muscat ha annunciato l’accordo ad hoc tra otto paesi per distribuirsi i 234 migranti raccolti la settimana scorsa al largo della Libia. Francia e Italia hanno detto sì, assieme a Portogallo, Irlanda, Lussemburgo, Belgio e Olanda. La Germania no, anche se è verosimile che la ‘carriera’ della Lifeline sia finita qui.

EuroNews : (VIDEO)

France24: Mission Lifeline has hit back at criticism levelled at it by EU leaders. On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the charity had contravened “all the rules” by rescuing the migrants when the Libya coastguard was already intervening. Macron accused Mission Lifeline of “playing into the hands of smugglers”. But the charity denied breaking the law in a statement on Wednesday.

“There have been a number of false accusations that Lifeline ignores orders by different MRCCs (maritime rescue coordination centres),” said Steier. Lifeline argued the migrants would not be safe in Libya, where they have faced abuse and rape in holding centres, and that returning them there would breach international refugee law. “The only order the ship denied was to hand over people to the so-called Libyan coastguard, as this would have been not in line with the Geneva Refugee Convention and therefore criminal.”

DW: After floating around the Mediterranean for days, the rescue ship Lifeline has arrived in a Maltese port. Malta’s prime minister has threatened legal action against the German charity that operates the vessel.