Malta closes its ports to migrants
Malta closes its ports to migrants
By Michael Lord 10 April 2020
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Malta has informed the European Union that it is closing all of its ports to illegal migrants as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Armed Forces of Malta rescued a boat carrying approximately 60 migrants on Thursday that was in the Maltese SAR (Search and Rescue) Zone. The boat had already been refused permission to dock in Italy and had been monitored for some time before the decision was made to accept them. The Maltese authorities said that the group would be allowed to disembark, but would be held in detention, according to a report by Malta Today.
However, Malta then informed the European Commission that after this incident, they would no longer accept migrants, regardless of whether they are with an NGO-sponsored vessel or not.
Malta’s Superintendent of Public Health, Prof. Charmaine Gauci, has declared a state of emergency because of the virus and banned all travel into the country, including by migrants. The government said that allowing migrants to enter would endanger all of the work that is being done in the country to prevent the virus from spreading.
“For many years, the Maltese government has carried a weight greater than it could carry in terms of irregular immigration,” the Maltese government said in a statement. “Despite our limited resources and our small size as the smallest EU member state, Malta provided a haven for thousands of people. But now, Malta has no choice but to take decisions that reflect the extraordinary circumstances at present.”
Malta currently has reported 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, and has suffered two deaths. The island nation in the Mediterranean has a population of approximately 494,000 people.
Malta has already seen an outbreak of the coronavirus in a migrant camp on the island of Hal Far that it is hosting, which holds approximately 1,000 people. The camp was placed under quarantine, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.
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