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Migrant ship operators say cooperating with Malta

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Berlin: Operators of the charity rescue boat Lifeline stranded for nearly a week in the Mediterranean with 230 migrants aboard said on Thursday they had been “cooperating” with authorities since docking in Malta.


After the ship’s odyssey became a symbol of EU frictions over the migrant issue, the German NGO’s co-founder Axel Steier said the captain was talking to Maltese police amid accusations by EU leaders that the crew had contravened international law.


“The captain was questioned (late on Wednesday) as part of the investigation and then returned to the ship,” Steier said, adding that he had returned to police headquarters again on Thursday. “We are cooperating.”


Steier reiterated that his rescue group, Mission Lifeline, denied breaking the law by taking on board 230 African asylum seekers and refusing to hand them over to Libya’s coastguard.


“We followed all the instructions of the authorities except the one saying to bring the people back to Libya,” he said.


Steier said that he believed a “very, very high percentage” of those on board qualified for asylum in the EU.


Italy and France have accused the charity of acting illegally by refusing to hand over the shipwrecked migrants during the June 21 rescue, arguing that such operations play into the hands of human traffickers.


But Lifeline argued that the migrants would not be safe in Libya, where they have faced abuse and rape in holding centres, and that returning them there would breach international refugee law.


A deal among a group of EU states was struck on the eve of a crunch summit on Thursday to take in the migrants and the ship finally docked in Malta.


The two-day meeting in Brussels is expected to be dominated by deep divisions over migration, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the issue could decide the fate of the bloc itself. — AFP


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