Ship with 106 migrants entering Maltese waters / Malta News Briefing – Friday 1st April 2022

Morning Briefing

Ship with 106 migrants entering Maltese waters

A rescue ship said it will be entering Maltese waters on Friday, after rescuing 106 people from Libyan waters. The Sea-Eye ship said in a statement it will be appealing to Malta to take the migrants, who left Libya last Sunday. “Perhaps an unequivocal appeal by the Pope to the Maltese government can make Malta, as the closest EU state, feel responsible for 106 people seeking protection,” Sea-Eye chairman Gordon Isler said. (Times of Malta)

PM pays tribute to former PMs in Freedom Day speech

Prime Minister Robert Abela paid tribute to his predecessors Dom Mintoff and George Borg Olivier in his Freedom Day speech, recalling events of Sette Giugno and how it paved the way for Maltese independence. Addressing party supporters at the Freedom Monument in Vittoriosa, Abela said Sette Giugno was a significant moment, “where the Maltese people rose up against the forces that, after a pandemic and war, left them broken”. (Maltatoday)

Covid-19 Update

New cases of COVID-19 rose to 760 on Thursday, up from 717 on Wednesday bringing the number of active cases to 5,540. On Wednesday, Professor Charmaine Gauci was reported saying that a more contagious sub-variant of Omicron is the most common COVID-19 strain on the island.