In the Press: Traffickers targeting wealthy migrants through social media

MaltaToday

Wealthier migrants are being targeted through social media by human traffickers, offering passage to Italy for fees as high as €5,500. Traffickers, especially those based in Turkey, are using larger vessels to transport more paying customers. Two such ships were abandoned off the coast of Italy in the past weeks. 

The Times of Malta

Passengers were left stranded after flights operated by Fly Hermes, a Maltese company run by a Sicilian family, were cancelled, leaving them stuck in airports in Torino, Comiso and Malta. No staff seemed to be aware of why the flights were cancelled and the head of the company in Malta was unavailable for comment.

In-Nazzjon

Justice minister Owen Bonnici said that while he had asked for an investigation into Magistrate Carol Peralta's conduct in December 2013, when he allegedly held a party in the law courts, he did not ask the Commission for the Administration of Justice to determine whether there was cause for Peralta's removal from his post.

L-Orizzont

MEP Alfred Sant said that should Greece leave the eurozone, of its own volition or otherwise, the funds Malta contributed to its bailout would be at risk. However, the European Commission responded that leaving the eurozone was not an option.

The Malta Independent

Minister for foreign affairs George Vella has expressed concern about the movements to and from the Libyan embassy in Attard, currently occupied by the the unrecognised Tripoli-based government. However, as embassies are considered foreign soil, Maltese authorities have little power to address the situation.