CSN is appealing to Prime Minister Robert Abela to set up a public and independent inquiry into the ostensibly illegal agreement that was reached between the Maltese Government and the Libyan coastguard which could have led to several thousands of lives lost.
The state of human rights in the Mediterranean is in tatters. Neville Gafà’s recent testimony suggests an illegal pact, resulting in a potential serious breach of international refugee law. Malta has effectively been sending thousands of people to their death: women, children, men, families.
The Geneva Convention enforces non-refoulement, the practice of sending an asylum-seeker back to a dangerous country that poses a serious risk of torture and death. Libya is not a safe country, a position upheld by various international organisations.
In an interview, Gafà himself claimed that he “used to receive information of boats departing from Libya and their coordinates from the Armed Forces of Malta and would relay this directly to the Libyan coastguard…” This suggests that the Maltese Government failed to abide by its international obligations to save persons in danger at sea and instead condemns innocent lives to countries lacking basic guarantees for its inhabitants. Today we know that in Libya there are countless cases of slavery, torture and hellish conditions in refugee camps.
Gafà appears to have done all this with the blessing of ex-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat; hence, there is a pressing need for an independent public investigation to establish the exact role of the Maltese Government and of Gafà, as well as whether Malta broke any international obligations because of Gafà’s actions.
Once this is a grave issue taking place on an international level, this press release is being copied to international organisations alongside the national media.
