Malta consumes rescued migrants in spite of coronavirus ban
A group of North African migrants rescued from a sinking boat came ashore in Malta in early stages Friday, hours following the government had said no more groups will be allowed in after it shut its ports due to the coronavirus emergency.
The 64 migrants were rescued by the Maltese armed forces from a boat within the Malta rescue area south of the island and brought ashore.
On Thursday Malta had followed Italy, the country that has up to now seen the most deaths from the epidemic, in announcing it would no more allow migrant boats to terrain due to the threat of coronavirus infection. The Maltese federal government said in a statement the armed forces had been monitoring the migrants for a few time before a patrol boat picked them up.
Even so, it said Malta could not guarantee even more rescues and wouldn't normally allow any more disembarkation of rescued people because resources have already been strained by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brand new arrivals were received by soldiers wearing bio-suits shortly after midnight. They'll be stored in detention. "It really is in the fascination, and may be the responsibility, of such people never to endanger themselves on a dangerous voyage to a region which is not able to offer them a safe and sound harbour," the federal government said.
Malta has imposed a good 14-evening quarantine on all travellers getting into the country, closed institutions and told people to stay in the home during the emergency. It released this week its first of all loss of life from COVID-19, the disease linked to the coronavirus, and possessed 319 active cases by Thursday, according to federal government figures.
After a relative lull in arrivals of boat migrants from Africa, numbers had started to pick up again in the initially 8 weeks of the year and then fall back sharply in March as Italy was hit by the coronavirus epidemic.
Before the crisis, ships operated by aid groups regularly patrolled the coast of Libya seeking to rescue migrants from flimsy boats. Just about all have withdrawn but one ship operated by German charity Sea-Vision returned to the region last week and found 150 migrants on Mon.
With both Italy and Malta, both nearest European countries, closed, it is unclear where they'll be taken.
