According to DW, Malta says it will keep 57 migrants on a ship anchored at sea until the EU can rehouse them. The island nation has been accused of breaking international law by returning asylum seekers to Libya.
“This is not Malta’s problem, although we are doing more than is expected of us,” Abela said in a news conference. “Other EU member states must shoulder the burden too. Malta and Italy cannot be left alone.”
Abela also admitted for the first time on Friday that Malta had returned another group of migrants to Libya in April.
He told journalists that on April 14 his government sent a private boat to rescue a group individuals adrift at sea. The boat then returned them to Libya, their point of departure.
The International Organization for Migration previously confirmed that 51 people were returned to Libya in that instance. The boat had been adrift for days after Italy and Malta refused entry.
Five bodies were found among the survivors, and seven people are missing.