Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1183920
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 NOVEMBER 2019 THE Gozo Channel's ferry service and the Sicily catamaran service have been suspended until further notice due to the bad weather conditions. Gozo Channel Operations Lim- ited said on Facebook that while all scheduled trips were maintained last night and this morning, the service was suspended for the time being. Tuesday saw gale force 8 winds and intermittent rain, with the wind's maximum speed expected at 36 knots. Virtu Ferries followed suit as it an- nounced that it was cancelling all scheduled trips until Wednesday. The company operates the catama- ran service between Malta and Sic- ily. Fisheries parliamentary secretary Clint Camilleri took the opportunity to call for a permanent link between Malta and Gozo on his Facebook page. "Rain or shine, every Gozitan em- ployed in Malta has to catch the fer- ry for work. Today we climbed onto the ferry not knowing whether the service will be available in the even- ing to take us back home," he wrote. Storm disrupts Gozo Channel and Sicily catamaran All scheduled trips suspended until further notice MALTA is ready to join other European countries in helping Libya solve its "internal prob- lems", Chris Fearne said. The Deputy Prime Minister was reacting to reports last Sunday that Malta had negoti- ated an agreement with Libya, in a deal which sees the Armed Forces of Malta coordinating with the Libyan coast guard to intercept migrants heading to- wards Maltese waters. Fearne avoided giving more details on the alleged deal. "I believe yesterday the For- eign Minister gave comments on this and said Malta is ready to, together with other Euro- pean countries, help the Liby- an government solve internal Libyan problems," he said. "Their internal problems re- main their own, but we are ready to help." Fearne's reply reflects com- ments made by Carmelo Abela during Monday's EU Foreign Affairs Council, where he said Malta would continue sup- porting the UN-led process, spearheaded by the UN's Spe- cial Representative for Libya and the head of the UN's Lib- yan support mission Ghassan Salamé. The Deputy Prime Minis- ter, however, avoided saying whether he agreed that mi- grants escaping Libya be turned back instead of being allowed to enter a safe European port to apply for asylum. According to The Sunday Times of Malta, government official Neville Gafa - who has repeatedly come under fire for allegations of bribery in the is- suing of medical visas to Liby- ans - acted as an intermediary in brokering the deal between the Maltese and Libyan gov- ernments. Gafa declined to comment about any details of the report and said that he couldn't do so without permission from his superiors. Government sources told the newspaper that talks regard- ing the cooperation started around a year ago. "We reached what you could call an understanding with the Libyans. When there is a vessel heading towards our waters, the AFM coordinates with the Libyans who pick them up and take them back to Libya before they come into our waters and become our responsibility," the source said. The government source went on to say that had the agree- ment not been reached, the is- land would have been "drown- ing in migrants". The Office of the Prime Min- ister refused to answer to a question on whether the Lib- yan coast guard had entered Malta's search and rescue area at least once. A question on whether the Maltese Government recog- nised Libya as a safe port, was also not answered. Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Central Mediterranean spe- cial envoy, writing on Twitter about one such particular in- cident which took place on 18 October, said he believed the case may have constituted a violation of maritime law. "The problem is that the mi- grants were disembarked in Libya. That's certainly a viola- tion of maritime laws. It's clear that Libya isn't a safe port," Cochetel said. The UNHCR office in Rome has also reached out to the au- thorities for an explanation but is still waiting for a response. Malta ready to help Libyan goverment with internal problems - Deputy PM The Libyan coastguard has been involved in migrant rescues, although the UN still considers Libya to be an unsafe port because of ongoing violence