Malta offers medical assistance to migrants’ ship - Muscat

Malta has agreed to offer medical assistance to some of the 629 people on board the stranded NHO ship, the Aquarius, following a request by the UNHCR.

This was confirmed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat when he was briefing parliament on Monday evening about the stand-off, which saw Italy’s new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini declare that his country’s ports would be shut to the migrants.

Patrol boats were dispatched from Sicily on Sunday night, only stopping when they were some 20 nautical miles from the ship – by which time news of the port closure was hitting media headlines, with the Naples mayor defying his minister and saying that his town would welcome the migrants.

Since then, the Aquarius has been virtually static to the north east of Malta in territorial waters.

Dr Muscat said that there were a few people on board who required medical assistance, including pregnant women.

“We said that we were willing to help in precarious situations,” he said to applause from the MPs.

He once again made it clear that the stance taken by Italy went completely against international laws and could have escalated into a catastrophe, calling for all involved to meet around a table to ensure that this never happened again.

Spain has since said that the migrants were welcome in Valencia and the prime minister said he had personally contacted the new government there to offer thanks. However, the Aquarius was, at at 7pm on Monday, still in the same position as it was on Sunday night. Valencia is 1,300 kilometres away: a three-day trip.

Dr Muscat also insisted that the government would not accept racism – and welcomed the fact that the House of Representatives was united in this aspect.

Malta has unilaterally sent a consignment of food and water to the ship.