‘It’s unfair to criticise AFM over 4-year-old migrant's death’ – Byron Camilleri

It is unfair to criticise the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) over the death of a four-year-old migrant girl, because had it not been for their search and rescue efforts, many more people could have died, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri insisted on Saturday.
“Some activists are unjustly levelling criticism at AFM. That boat was in the search and rescue zone of three other countries before it entered our zone, but only Malta conducted a rescue operation immediately,” he said, asking activists why they did not say anything when the boat was in other rescue zones.
“Had the AFM not conducted its efforts the way it did, we could possibly be speaking about many more deaths today.”
Camilleri was speaking during an interview with Andrew Azzopardi on 103 Malta’s Heart.

He said AFM coordinated the rescue operation with seven other sea vessels just in time to prevent more deaths.
“For the government and for the AFM, there are no conditions when it comes to human lives,” he said.
A girl reportedly did, however, die of thirst at sea while waiting to be rescued along with other migrants earlier this month.
Four-year-old Loujin Ahmed Nasif was among a group of 60 distressed migrants with...