Archbishop Charles Scicluna had strong words yesterday about the ongoing migration tussles between EU countries, saying that it goes against all human decency to leave people dying in the middle of what is now called the blue desert.
Speaking with The Malta Independent yesterday, the Archbishop was asked for his thoughts about how EU countries are pushing for the Libyan Coast Guard to step up rescue operations amidst reports of abuse, the most recent of which was by a migrant aid group which has accused Libya's coast guard of abandoning three people in the Mediterranean, including a woman and a toddler who died, after intercepting 160 Europe-bound migrants near the shores of the North African nation.
“It goes against all human decency to leave people dying in the middle of what is now called the blue desert. The EU should make it clear to the Libyan authorities that they have to respect the best practices when it comes to rescue, and also solidarity with the refugees. Unfortunately, the anecdotal information we receive from Libya does not seem to be good news, and this is part of the political, and also human, responsibility that European governments have to share.”
On Tuesday Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish rescue group posted images and videos of the wreckage and the dead bodies on social media, accusing both a merchant ship sailing in international waters and Libya's coast guard for failing to help the three migrants.
A spokesman for Libya's coast guard responded to the Spanish aid group's criticism late Tuesday, saying guard members carry out rescues of Europe-bound migrants "in accordance with international standards in saving lives at sea.
"All disasters happening in the sea are caused by human traffickers who are only interested in profit and the presence of such irresponsible, non-governmental groups in the region.”
This was just the latest situation in the ongoing arguments between humanitarian NGOs, Libya, and EU governments. Where NGO vessels have even been kept out at sea for days as EU countries squabble over which port the asylum seekers should land at.
The head of Proactiva Open Arms, Oscar Camps, on Tuesday also blamed the Italian government's cooperation with Libyan authorities for the death of the woman and the toddler.
In Malta, the government has also clamped down on rescue NGOs. with Prime Minister Muscat employing aggressive tactics in the face of growing tensions, blocking NGOs from entering or exiting Maltese ports and grounding an NGO’s spotter plane.
Asked for his view on the situation regarding the recent stances by EU countries and arguments between them, Archbishop Charles Scicluna stressed that the keyword is solidarity, and stressed that we cannot refuse solidarity to anyone in danger of drowning, adding that there must also be solidarity by countries.
“My invitation to everyone is that we continue to show solidarity and help people who are there to show solidarity, but we also need solidarity of other countries. This is an important aspect government is strong about and it has my support, that we are bound to show solidarity to people but we also need solidarity from other countries, EU countries especially as we are not only an autonomous border, but the southernmost border of Europe.
“Our borders are also the EU borders, and so we need the solidarity of countries within the EU as we cannot, due to our size and other situations, take on the full responsibility which the Mediterranean situation calls for at the moment.”