Migrants held at sea for weeks accuse Malta of rights breach

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Some 32 migrants who were held for weeks at sea on tourism boats chartered by the Maltese government during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic have filed a constitutional complaint in a Maltese court claiming their human rights were violated.

The case, which had its first procedural hearing Thursday, was filed on behalf of the migrants by lawyers and humanitarian organizations including the Jesuit Refugee Service and Aditus Foundation against the Maltese prime minister, home affairs minister and state advocate.

The migrants are seeking compensation for what the complaint says was inhuman and degrading treatment and violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The next hearing is expected in January.

The government, in its response to the complaint, denied the migrants’ rights were violated and insisted they were kept on the ships as a COVID-19 containment measure at a time when the government had declared a public health emergency and Maltese ports, and ports of other countries, were closed.

The migrants had left Libya on separate boats and different days starting in late April, 2020. They were finally allowed to disembark in early June, some after more than a month at sea, after some migrants threatened the crew on one of the boats.

Like most would-be asylum seekers who leave Libya on unseaworthy smugglers’ boats, the migrants had asked to be rescued at sea a few days into their journeys and were picked up by nearby ships and taken toward Malta. But in a change, they were transferred to government-chartered tourism boats that are usually used for touring around the island nation or chartered for private boat parties.

The complaint says the Maltese government coordinated the operation and maintained direct control over the boats and crews while the vessels remained in...