In a letter addressed to the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Malta appealed for the Vatican to use its offices to intervene and ask other EU member states to support Malta by accepting to relocate migrants who are currently stranded in the Mediterranean.

“We are making this request as we acknowledge that Malta’s reception and asylum systems are currently struggling to cope with the large number of boat arrivals that the country has received in recent months,” the letter states.

This was written with reference to the dramatic events unloading at sea where 47 men, women and children are stuck on an NGO rescue vessel in Malta’s Search and Rescue area waiting to be allowed to disembark.

The Archdiocese explained that this year alone, Malta has taken in almost 1,200 migrants, not to mention the 3,400 asylum seekers that arrived in Malta in 2019 and the 1,445 boat arrivals to the country between June and December of 2018. Only a small percentage of these were relocated to other EU member states while the majority stayed in Malta.

“In light of this reality, we ask you to intervene in this case to advocate for a solution that is based on solidarity and respect for human dignity,” the letter read.

The letter was signed by Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, Apostolic Administrator for Gozo Mario Grech, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi, and Malta Episcopal Conference General Secretary Fr. Jimmy Bonnici.

The aforementioned vessel is only one of the four vessels that were sighted by Frontex on 11 April between Malta, Italy and Libya.

On Monday morning, Alarm Phone revealed that the Aita Mari rescue ship was headed to the boat in distress – now confirmed to actually have 43 people on board.

Aita Mari is operated by the Spanish NGO Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario (SMH).

Once the dinghy was found, SMH reported that it found 6 people who were unconscious and one pregnant woman on board.

Aita Mari is still at sea as both Italy and Malta have closed their ports on account of a state of emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19.

Another boat with 54 migrants on board was also refused to disembark.

On Wednesday, NGO IMO Libya reported that 5 of the migrants on board had lost their lives while the remaining 49 migrants have been returned back to Tripoli.

The NGO appealed for emphasised that “people rescued at sea should not be returned to unsafe ports. An alternative to disembarkation in Libya must be found urgently.”

On Monday, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said on Twitter that all persons in distress within Malta's SAR zone should be rescued and their safety should be guaranteed.

Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo meanwhile has called on the European Union to act in order to avoid what could be a “human catastrophe”.  In a recorded statement published on Monday, Bartolo called for a humanitarian mission in Libya to be launched to provide assistance to migrant and incentivise them to stay in Libya rather than embark on the perilous journey into the Mediterranean Sea.