At the end of August, Loujin, a four-year old Syrian girl, boarded a wooden fishing vessel on Lebanon’s coast with her mother and one year old sister, Mira, and set out across the sea with over sixty other people from Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. Running out of basic provisions and taking on water, they began sending out distress signals on 2 September, 2022. Those distress signals were immediately relayed to the Maltese authorities.

For days, the Maltese Authorities ignored the distress signals. They also ignored NGO calls for help. For days Loujin, her family, and their fellow travelers drifted in the eastern part of Malta’s search and rescue region (SAR). Commercial vessels passed within eyesight multiple times. The Maltese Authorities shamefully instructed none of them to intervene.

This inaction in defiance of the Law of the Sea and in violation of basic moral values and human rights has become a murderous pattern. Countless other asylum seekers in distress this summer and more and more people over recent years have not been helped to safety in furtherance of a Malta Government policy of non-assistance and forced pushbacks of migrants at sea.

Finally, on 6 September, last Tuesday, the AFM instructed a cargo vessel, the BBC Pearl, to carry out a belated rescue. Loujin was unconscious when she was pulled onboard and died shortly after. Her last words were “Mother, I’m thirsty.” Her death was wholly predictable and preventable.

Loujin’s death is not an aberration. As a result of Maltese, EU, and other member state border practices, over 20,000 people died in the Mediterranean between 2015 and 2021. Many others disappear without being counted: adults and children whose faces we do not know, whose deaths we do not grieve.

We ask you the Malta Government to reconsider your decision not to engage. Put an end to policies that currently dehumanize and brutalize the most vulnerable people; policies that deny the right to asylum, that delay rescue, that force people back to war zones and torturous detention camps.; policies that kill a four-year old girl and other children at sea.

We ask you to stop making us party to these cruel policies of abandonment. Rather, we ask you to act in solidarity with genuine respect for all human life.

Fl-aħħar ta’ Awwissu, Loujin, tifla Sirjana ta’ erba’ snin, telgħet fuq dgħajsa tas-sajd mill-kosta tal-Libanu ma’ ommha u oħtha Mira ta’ sena, u telqu fuq il-baħar ma’ sittin ruħ oħra mis-Sirja, il-Palestina u l-Libanu. Fit-2 ta’ Settembru 2022, meta bdew jispiċċawlhom il-provisti bażiċi u d-dgħajsa beda jidħlilha l-ilma, bdew jibgħatu sinjali li għandhom bżonn l-għajnuna. Dawn is-sejħiet għall-għajnuna ġew mgħoddija lill-awtoritajiet Maltin.

Għal ġranet sħaħ, l-awtoritajiet Maltin injoraw is-sejħiet ġejjin minn fuq din id-dgħajsa. Injoraw ukoll is-sejħiet għall-għajnuna mill-NGOs. Għal ġranet sħaħ, Loujin, il-familja tagħha u dawk li kienu qegħdin jivjaġġaw magħha baqgħu bejn sema u ilma fin-naħa tal-Lvant taż-żona tat-tiftix u s-salvataġġ ta’ Malta (SAR). Diversi vapuri u dgħajjes kummerċjali għaddew minn ħdejhom u rawhom, imma dawn kellhom istruzzjonijiet tal-mistħija biex ħadd minnhom ma  jintervjeni.

Dan in-nuqqas ta’ azzjoni, li jmur kontra l-Liġi tal-Baħar u anki kontra kull valur morali u d-drittijiet tal-bniedem, sar xejra waħda qattiela. Ħafna iktar persuni li jiġu Malta biex ifittxu l-ażil u ħafna oħrajn fuq medda ta’ dawn l-aħħar snin, ma ngħatawx l-għajnuna biex isalvaw. Dan minħabba l-politika tal-Gvern Malti li ma tingħatax għajnuna lill-immigranti li jerġgħu jintbagħtu lura minn fejn ġew meta jkunu għadhom fuq il-baħar.

Fl-aħħar, fis-6 ta’ Settembru, nhar it-Tlieta li għadda, il-Forzi Armati ordnat vapur tal-merkanzija, il-BBC Pearl, biex issir operazzjoni ta’ salvataġġ li ġiet tard wisq. Loujin kienet mitlufa minn sensiha meta tellgħuha fuq il-vapur u mietet ftit wara. L-aħħar kelmiet tagħha kienu, “Ma, għandi l-għatx”. Il-mewt tagħha kienet prevedibbli u setgħet ġiet evitata.

Il-mewt ta’ Loujin mhux każ iżolat. Minħabba l-prattiċi tal-fruntieri f’Malta, fl-UE, u fi stati membri oħrajn, iktar minn 20,000 persuna mietu fil-Mediterran bejn l-2015 u l-2021. Ħafna oħrajn jgħibu mingħajr ma ngħodduhom: tfal u adulti li wiċċhom ma nafuhx, li l-mewt tagħhom ma nibkux.

Qed nitolbu lill-Gvern Malti biex jerġa’ jikkunsidra d-deċiżjoni tiegħu li ma jagħmel xejn. Qed insejħulkom biex ma tkomplux b’din il-politika inumana u brutali li biha qegħdin isofru l-iktar nies vulnerabbli, politika li tiċħad id-dritt għall-għażil, li jdumu ma jiġu salvati n-nies, li tisforza n-nies li jmorru lura f’żoni fejn hemm gwerer u kunflitti, lura għal kampijiet ta’ detenzjoni fejn jiġu ittorturati,  politika li qatlet tifla ta’ erba’ snin u ħafna oħrajn fuq il-baħar.

Nitolbukom biex ma tibqgħux tagħmluna kompliċi f’din il-politika qattiela u kiefra ta’ abbandun. Għall-kuntrarju, nitolbukom biex turu solidarjetà u rispett ġenwin lejn il-ħajja ta’ kull persuna.