#CrimesOfMalta: Malta delays the rescue of 63 people in imminent life-threatening danger by a whole night.
16.07. – 17.07.2020:
“We are dying, we are dying! Nobody is helping us, there is just sea! Please help, help, help!” The people on board the boat in distress called the Watch The Med – Alarmphone in panic at 4:00 a.m. and again at 8:00 a.m., which subsequently alerted the Maltese authorities – without receiving any reply. Around midday, the crew of Moonbird was able to spot the people in need in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone (SAR), wearing no life jackets at all. The Maltese authorities were immediately alerted by Moonbird’s Air Liaison Officer and they declared that they would take all necessary measures to rescue the people in distress. However, the people in distress had to spend another whole night in an unseaworthy dinghy, because the Maltese Armed Forces did not launch a rescue until the morning of the next day. Everyone was then finally disembarked in Malta.
In the series #CrimesOfMalta, we reconstruct 10 human rights violations in 10 weeks, which were also witnessed by our airplane Moonbird. The case reconstructions will be collected on our website and accompanied politically and philosophically on taz blogs.
