On Sunday, 47 organizations in Malta came together to remember migrants who died at sea. They blamed the government for failing to uphold its search and rescue (SAR) responsibilities, and pushing back migrants to Libya, according to the News Book website.
“We have lost lives due to border externalisation policies,” David Yambio, Refugees in Libya founder, and a Sudanese refugee, told those who gathered in Valletta.
Addressing those present for CommemorAction, Yambio said that after crossing different borders and making it through several different countries, he finally arrived in Libya, where he heard the word “illegal” for the first time.
In a joint statement, the organisations said that the Maltese government’s “continued failure to uphold its search and rescue (SAR) responsibilities contributes to this death toll by putting lives at risk.”
“Illegal – a word against human values, and should not be used against another human being,” he said.
He observed that “illegal” came from the other side of the Mediterranean sea, instigated by western policies aimed at protecting European borders from irregular entries.
“We suffer the consequences of policies drawn up in Europe with our lives, our blood, and our loved ones,” Yambio said. He added that EU policies have extended all the way to the Sahel, Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco.
He also described detention centres in Libya as “inhumane concentration camps” and underlined that “such policies were all being financed under the watch of the common people.”
The human rights activist urged people to “think and question border and securitisation policies, which are leading to the death of many who are in search of a better life.”
Hadia Bashir, a member of the Sudanese community in Malta, described the Mediterranean sea as the “largest cemetery in the world.”
Bashir also called for an international investigation into those “responsible for the deaths at sea.” She also called for “action against those who refuse or fail to rescue asylum seekers crossing to safer countries.”
In 2022, a further 24,600 people were pushed back to Libya after being intercepted at sea. Returning people to Libya has been widely condemned for violating international law and the principle of non-refoulment: Libya remains unsafe for migrants, and they regularly face torture, rape, and death in the country.
Yet, on multiple occasions, Maltese authorities have allowed the Libyan Coast Guard or instructed private vessels to return people to Libya from Malta’s search and rescue zone. Malta’s actions result in the abuse, exploitation, and death of thousands of people, including children.