Curia urges politicians to ‘prioritise lives’ after four-year-old girl dies in Malta’s search and rescue zone

The Justice and Peace Commission within the Curia has urged Maltese authorities and politicians to prioritise lives after a four-year-old girl died of thirst in Malta’s search and rescue zone. 

In a statement, the Commission said that politicions should “prioritise the saving of lives and refrain from using language that fans the flames of indifference” after a young girl died of dehydration whilst stranded at sea. 

Loujin, the four-year-old girl in question, was one of 62 people who spent days in distress drifting in Malta’s search and rescue zone close to Crete.

The Commission’s President, Daniel Darmanin, said that the migration issue is complex and complicated. “However, when it comes to rescue at sea, we can never lose sight of one simple truth: there aren’t some human beings who are more worthy of our consideration, care and protection than others.”

“We seem to have gotten used to this tragic and avoidable loss of life. When these people cry for help, no one seems to be listening. And if we are listening, we don’t seem to care enough to do something about it.”

President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was equally disappointed by the news that Malta was one of the reported countries that initially ignored pleas to help the distressed migrants last week. 

She circulated a photo of Loujin to her own Facebook feed, saying the photo represented “the injustice against those who have as much a right as I do to live in peace, not war”. 

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The migrants on board spent 10 days at sea after setting sail from Lebanon. A Moroccan-Italian activist had told the Associated Press that she and other activists tried pressing Maltese, Italian and Greek authorities to authorise nearby ships to rescue them days before the actual rescue took place. 

A cargo ship eventually rescued the people on board, but requested help from Malta’s Rescue Coordination Centre after two of the people rescued were unconscious. One of these was the four-year-old Loujin.

The Maltese authorities have long-adopted a policy of non-communication with rescue NGOs, making it hard to know whether any action if at all was taken in response to the calls for help.

Malta's SAR stretches across a vast area in the central Mediterranean from Tunisia to Crete. It is Malta's responsibility to coordinate rescue efforts in this zone by directing ships that are close by to intervene and disembark the rescued people in the closest, safest port.

A vigil will be held in remembrance of Loujin, and other lives lost as sea this summer, on Friday at 6:30pm near the Church of Our Lady of Liesse in Valletta.