Pawns in a political game

After six long weeks, the migrants that had been stranded on board of four chartered ‘pleasure’ vessels were allowed into Malta on Saturday evening.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said yesterday that the migrants on board one of the boats had become violent and that sending in the army was too risky. Instead, the migrants were allowed to enter Malta.

This was not the first time that unrest was reported on board the vessels – a few weeks ago, some of the men being held on what have aptly been described as ‘prison ships’ had gone on hunger strike.

The government had told us that it would not allow any rescued migrants to disembark in Malta because the ports were closed due to the COVID-19 emergency. Last week, Prime Minister Abela said in a triumphant tone that the crisis is now behind us, and Deputy PM Chris Fearne famously said that “we have won the war.”

Yet the PM said the migrants would still be kept outside Maltese territorial waters, despite this ‘victory’ over the pandemic. The decision was met with disbelief – why are we keeping these 400 souls locked up on boats 13 miles out if the danger is now over?

The truth is that the decision was taken to strongarm the EU into helping out. It was a political message. But it was the wrong kind of message to send – no country should use human beings as leverage.

Yes, we agree and have said before that Malta cannot be left to carry this burden alone. Europe has shown solidarity when it comes to helping its Member States overcome the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and will be dishing out billions of euro for this aim. But when it comes to migration, it has done nothing over the past few months. Countries like Malta and Italy have been abandoned, and so have the 400 migrants who had been stranded off Malta’s shores.

But keeping hundreds of people at sea for weeks and weeks was not the solution. The decision to allow the boats to dock was the right one, as bloodshed was avoided. But the government’s decision is also an admission that the game it tried to play did not work, and this means that 400 people were made to suffer for nothing.

On another note, we cannot fail to note the lack of sympathy shown by the Maltese general public. Everyone was aware of the migrants on Captain Morgan ships – the media has reported about the issue on a daily basis. Yet apart from the usual NGOs who called on the authorities to allow the migrants in and a handful of teenage activists who protested for a month outside Parliament, there was complete silence.

We were too preoccupied with how and when the bars and restaurants would open, so that we can return to our ‘normal’ lives, to notice that 400 people were living a daily nightmare.

And now that these people have been allowed on land for the first time in a month and a half, many are criticising the government for finally showing some empathy.

What a sad situation this is!