[WATCH] Maltese government guilty of ‘inverse racism’ against Defend Europe crew - Patrijotti
The far-right group said it had no option but to intervene after the government denied ‘European kids’ humanitarian aid
The right-wing Moviment Patrijotti Maltin has accused the government of ‘inverse racism’ against the identitarian group Defend Europe, which has been engaged in what it described as a mission to defend Europe from migrants crossing to Europe from Libya.
The MPM this morning sailed some 15 miles off Malta’s coast to deliver supplies to the crew of the C-Star - a ship chartered the the group - after it was refused entry to Malta by local authorities earlier this week.
The supplies were collected by the MPM after a social media campaign in which it urged supporters to donate food, water, cigarettes, and other supplies. MPM secretary general Norman Saliba said many people had responded to the appeal, including members and politicians of both the Labour and the Nationalist parties.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the government had denied the ship entry because there was no place for extremists in Malta, a move supported by the Nationalist Party, as well as a number of human rights NGOs.
“We had no choice, it’s not humane to leave 17 people on a ship in the middle of the ocean without any supplies,” Saliba said.
He added that MPM had been forced to undertake a “dangerous humanitarian mission” which put their own lives at risk because the authorities had decided to abandon a group of European youths in international waters.
“We like to boast about our hospitality and tolerance, yet we are picking and choosing whom we want to be tolerant with,” he said. “We are committing inverse racism. Just because they don’t agree with the government’s agenda, we are denying them basic rights like aid, food, water and shelter.”
Saliba insisted that due to the rough seas, transferring supplies to the ship had proved to be more dangerous than expected. “There would have been blood on Joseph Muscat’s hands had anyone been injured,” he said.
MPM leader Henry Battistino said it was unacceptable to call Defend Europe members racists.
“They are educated, polite young men with their own ideas,” he said, adding that it was unacceptable for anyone to be called a racist unless they had ever been charged with racism.
He stressed that all “these European kids” had asked for was permission to come to Malta in order to catch a flight home.
According to Battistino, the group had been unfairly portrayed as racist. “Nobody ever mentioned their mission statement, which specifically says that if they encounter people in need of help, illegal or not, they will help and save them,” he said.
“The thing that bothered me the most was that these people were denied water. You wouldn’t deny water to an animal,” he said, questioning why such “hatred” was necessary.
“We didn’t even deny Napoleon water and he was coming to attack us, let alone these people, who are defending Europe - Europe as they see it.”
Battistino said human traffickers were colluding with human rights NGOs to bring migrants to Europe. He insisted there was proof that NGO ships had entered Libyan waters –as close as three miles from the shore - and were in constant communication with human traffickers via satellite phone.
“The number of NGOs has exploded from three to over 66, despite the fact that the Prime Minister said no more boats were coming in,” he said.
Ultimately the C-Star was denied entry to Malta simply because it had exposed humanitarian NGOs’ “racket” and that groups like Defend Europe and the MPM were “sensitizing” citizens to what was going on, Battistino concluded.