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Refugees on a boat from Holt in the Mediterranean
Photo: Fabian Heinz / SEA-EYE Handout / EPA-EFE / REX
The non-governmental organization Amnesty International has made serious allegations against Malta for handling refugees.
According to a report by the human rights organization, the "dangerous and illegal" measures taken by the Mediterranean state in rejecting refugees could have led to avoidable deaths.
Malta is using "increasingly despicable and illegal tactics," said Amnesty official Elisa De Pieri.
Malta and other EU Mediterranean countries are currently faced with demands for the admission of 27 refugees who have been waiting for a month on the Danish tanker "Maersk Etienne".
Malta has signed agreements with Libya
Amnesty accused Malta of "escalating tactics" against the reception of refugees.
These included illegal rejections to Libya, the diversion of boats in the direction of Italy and the illegal detention of hundreds of people on poorly equipped ferries outside the Maltese territorial waters.
Malta had concluded an agreement with Libya in May to prevent refugees from the North African country from reaching the island.
Amnesty criticized this agreement in the 34-page report that refugees were subjected to brutal treatment in camps there after they were returned to Libya.
According to the report, since the beginning of the year, Malta has taken 2161 people into the country illegally.
Amnesty admitted that the resources and efforts that Malta had put in place were "undoubtedly considerable" for such a small country.
Nevertheless, this does not release the island state from its responsibility to designate a safe place of accommodation for the people rescued under its coordination
The situation on board the "Maersk Etienne" is deteriorating
Several international organizations pointed out on Monday the "rapidly" deteriorating situation on board the Danish tanker "Maersk Etienne", on which there are 27 refugees.
The tanker picked up the migrants on August 4th at the request of Malta after they were in distress en route from Libya to the EU.
Later, however, the Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela rejected any responsibility for those who were rescued.
The UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) accused the EU Mediterranean countries of violating international law if they continued to refuse to let the 27 refugees disembark.
"We can no longer stand by and watch as governments ignore the plight of these people," said ICS Secretary General Guy Platten.
The Danish shipping company Maersk announced on Sunday that three of the rescued had jumped off board in desperation.
According to the information, they could be saved by the crew.
The Danish interim minister for immigration, Kaare Dybvad Bek, assigned responsibility for the reception of the 27 refugees in a message to the news agency AFP Tunisia.
According to Danish press reports, the rescued refugee boat was in Tunisian waters.
In the first half of 2020, according to the UN refugee agency, 14,481 people had set off from the Libyan coast for Europe.
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