++ Attack on migrants at sea? ++
The ~70 people in distress near #Malta called us moments ago & said: “We have an emergency here. Malta military came and cut cable of motor. Water is in the boat. Malta military said ‘I leave you to die in the water. Nobody will come to Malta.’”
The ~70 people in distress near #Malta called us moments ago & said: “We have an emergency here. Malta military came and cut cable of motor. Water is in the boat. Malta military said ‘I leave you to die in the water. Nobody will come to Malta.’”
They called again saying: "Please help us! We will die. We will die in the water. We will die in Maltese waters. The Malta military ship number is P52, the number of the ship. Please we will die. Now we are 5 days in the water and the water is in the boat now. Please help us."
We cannot reach the people in distress anymore. We hope this is a sign that public pressure worked & Malta was forced to take them aboard. Malta’s AFM vessel P51 had approached this boat already yesterday but disappeared, as the migrants reported at 17.32h CEST on 08/04.
The Armed Forces of Malta did not react to our pleas for rescue. The migrants survived another night at sea and moved closer to Malta. We could reach them only tonight again when they reported of the attack at sea. They state that two military vessels were nearby.
Finally, at 7.35h today, Malta confirmed to us that the people (66 in total) were disembarked at ~22.30h last night, ~41h after first alert. We call on Malta to stop non-assistance & attacks on people in distress! Do not use #Covid19 as excuse to violate fundamental human rights!
