Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1267088
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 JULY 2020 NEWS We are recruiting! Interested candidates are kindly requested to send their CV along with a covering letter to info@mediatoday.com.mt by not later than noon on Monday 20 July 2020. Only selected applicants will be summoned for an interview. • • • • • JOURNALISTS MediaToday Co Ltd Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 Tel. 21382741 • info@mediatoday.com.mt BUSINESS TODAY Shocking footage shows desperation of migrants aboard cargo ship LAURA CALLEJA THE situation onboard the Leb- anese livestock cargo ship Talia has deteriorated rapidly and is becoming "unsustainable", Cap- tain Mohammad Shaaban told MaltaToday, relaying the plight of 52 rescued migrants. "The situation is bad, I am running out of food and water," Shaaban said speaking to this newspaper in a phone interview on Tuesday. The ship, which is current- ly hosting 52 migrants rescued from a sinking dinghy after es- caping from Libya, is used for the transport of livestock, forcing the crew to host the guests in "subhu- man" conditions. The captain said that migrants had come to speak to the crew asking for blankets, pillows and beds, but that there were no ad- ditional materials on the ship, and that for now, he was unable to transfer them from the stables. "This is a place for animals, not for humans. Malta or Italy must take these people. I do not have the money; the company cannot bear the losses… The migrants are now staying on the sixth floor which is a problem because our ship has not yet been cleaned, so there is residue from the previous voyage," he said. The majority of the migrants onboard the Talia are from So- malia and Djibouti, and many need urgent medical care after surviving the war in Libya, as well as a number of days at sea, he add- ed. Shaaban said that the mental health of the migrants had taken a turn for the worst and that they were "demoralised". On Tuesday Shaaban wrote a letter to the Rescue Coordination Centre of Malta, detailing the sit- uation of the migrants aboard the vessel. He confirmed that as of tomorrow the ship would not be able to provide food and water, and "the immigrants will remain without food until they are dis- embarked from the ship." Shaaban said that the migrants had now begun fighting each other as problems had arisen be- tween them and that the situation was becoming very dangerous. "I ask that security is sent to protect them from each other and to pro- tect the crew," he said. A spokesperson for the refugee rescue charity Alarm Phone told MaltaToday that the situation remained unchanged and that no offer has been made from Malta to remedy the situation. On Sunday, the ship was al- lowed into Maltese territorial wa- ters to seek shelter from adverse weather conditions. It, however, has not received permission from Malta to enter the country's port. Malta is insisting it will not dis- embark the migrants until it has a European agreement for their relocation. Malta and Italy have faced the brunt of migrant arriv- als from Libya since the start of the year. Last month, the government went back on its policy to keep rescued migrants on chartered tourist ships outside territorial waters after the situation became unsustainable. More than 400 migrants were eventually brought ashore but yesterday the govern- ment announced that agreement had been reached with other EU countries for the relocation of 280 people.