US President Trump’s sanctions threat appears to have little to no effect on Moscow
Latest editorial
Malta's three-week punishment of a merchant vessel could discourage refugee rescues, activists warn
Alarm Phone brands the stand-off, the longest before a European harbour, as ‘yet another low point in Europe's disastrous actions in the Mediterranean’
The Etienne merchant ship pulls up alongside a small wooden boat carrying 27 refugees escaping Libya
Mr Smalls and 13 other Freedom Flotilla Coalition activists who tried to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza aboard the Handala ship remain in detention and on hunger strike
THE near month-long stand-off between Malta and a merchant ship carrying 27 rescued refugees will discourage shipping companies from carrying out their international obligation to save lives at sea, refugee-rescuers have warned.
The Etienne, a cargo ship owned by the Danish shipping company Maersk, picked up 26 men and one woman from a wooden boat in the central Mediterranean on August 5, two days after the refugees had escaped from Libya.
The refugees had contacted the migrant distress hotline operated by the Alarm Phone activist network prior to their rescue.
More from this author
Mr Smalls and 13 other Freedom Flotilla Coalition activists who tried to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza aboard the Handala ship remain in detention and on hunger strike
