An MEP delegation has written a letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat requesting him to “end the unlawful detention” of NGO boats and aircraft being held in Malta.

The MEPs in question met with the crew of Seawatch and Lifeline to get an insight into their current situation after the government blocked harbours to NGO ships earlier this summer.

The MEPs believe that SAR boats and aircrafts are being held in an unlawful manner.

 

Addressing a press conference in Valletta, chaired by MEP Martina Anderson, the delegation called on Muscat to intervene and give permission to the vessels and aircraft in question to be allowed to operate in the Mediterranean.

While the NGO Lifeline was receiving legal assistance from a local NGO with regards to its registration irregularities, other NGOs, in particular Sea Watch, were not receiving the same opportunities.

The MEPs said that the issue will be raised in European Parliament as soon as possible, and that they are doing their best to change the Dublin Accord to make sure that all member states are doing their part.

Anderson pushed her point home by questioning “what kind of democracy ignored the fact that men, women, and little children are perishing at sea”.

The individuals making part of the delegation were MEPs Martina Anderson, Peter Niedermuller, and Jean Lambert.

Malta’s ports were closed to prohibit NGO ships to enter or leave last June, with the government saying in a statement that they must make sure that the NGOs are ‘operating within the area of Maltese responsibility, are in accordance to national and international rules’. A process that has seemingly dragged on for over two months now.

The SAR ship Lifeline’s captain Claus-Peter Reisch is currently entangled in a court case where he is charged with entering Maltese territorial waters illegally and without proper registration and a license. The Lifeline was at the center of an international controversy after both Malta and Italy refused to allow it to dock and take responsibility for the migrants.