Teenage African migrants accused of hijacking tanker after sea rescue

 

Migrants charged with hijacking the merchant ship Elhiblu 1 are escorted by police officers out of the Courts of Justice in Valletta, Malta, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

 

VALLETTA (Reuters) - Three teenage migrants were charged in a Maltese court on Saturday with hijacking a small commercial tanker that had rescued them and others off the coast of Libya.

 

The three, who have pleaded not guilty, were among 108 Africans rescued by the El Hiblu 1 tanker this week. They are accused of threatening the crew on Wednesday to try to force the boat to go to Malta and not take them back to Libya.

 

Maltese soldiers boarded the tanker without incident and escorted it to the Valletta harbour on Thursday.

 

The defendants are 15, 16 and 19 - one of them from Ivory Coast and the other two from Guinea. They pulled the hoods of their jackets over their faces as the were escorted out of court by police on Saturday.

 

EU states have been at loggerheads over migration since a spike in Mediterranean arrivals caught the bloc by surprise in 2015, stretching social and security services and fuelling support for far-right, nationalist and populist groups.

 

Sea arrivals have fallen from more than a million in the peak year to some 140,000 people last year, according to U.N. data. But political tensions around migration run high in the EU, especially ahead of European Parliament election in May.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-31

I am wondering why the other 105 migrants did not stop the 3 teenagers from their violent actions? I am not convinced such people are suitable for a life in Europe after this horrific crime. Not the best PR at any rate. What do the Maltese do with these illegal immigrants? Do they keep them, send them to mainland Europe or send them back home? 

 

W

Edited March 30, 20197 yr by TopDeadSenter

Quite the way to show their gratitude !!!

1 hour ago, neeray said:

Quite the way to show their gratitude !!!

Gratitude for what? They were going to be returned to Libya, you must have read of the terrible treatment asylum seekers etc receive in Libya, including extortion and torture. BTW isn't shipping required to take people rescued to a safe port, not into the hands of abusers.

 

Don't recall the three arrested hurt anyone on board their rescue ship

 

 

Edited March 31, 20197 yr by simple1

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Do they keep them, send them to mainland Europe or send them back home? 

send them back home ....  countries need to get tougher on illegal immigrants or country shoppers.

Seems so many of us lucky people are so ready to condem others les fortunate those guys dident hurt anyone and god knows what they have gone through in a quest for a better life what they did was wrong but it does not imo warrant draconian punishment 

Something missing from this report?

 

How did three teenagers manage to hijack a tanker that had rescued them?

Seems so many of us lucky people are so ready to condem others les fortunate those guys dident hurt anyone and god knows what they have gone through in a quest for a better life what they did was wrong but it does not imo warrant draconian punishment 

Ok no punishment ,but sent back straight away

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35 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Something missing from this report?

 

How did three teenagers manage to hijack a tanker that had rescued them?

They tried too...

 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

They are accused of threatening the crew on Wednesday to try to force the boat to go to Malta and not take them back to Libya.

 

A number of inflammatory and Troll posts, along with replies have been removed.

Keep things civil and on topic please, or face the consequences.

21 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

Ok no punishment ,but sent back straight away

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Getting sent back to Libya would more than likely have them face torture, likely contrary to international maritime law (safe haven). I would guess those arrested will face some prison time in Malta and then returned to their home countries.

Getting sent back to Libya would more than likely have them face torture, likely contrary to international maritime law (safe haven). I would guess those arrested will face some prison time in Malta and then returned to their home countries.

As long as they are sent back,i dont care where it is ,

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3 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

As long as they are sent back,i dont care where it is ,

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So you're OK with State torture and abuse?

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

I am wondering why the other 105 migrants did not stop the 3 teenagers from their violent actions? I am not convinced such people are suitable for a life in Europe after this horrific crime. Not the best PR at any rate. What do the Maltese do with these illegal immigrants? Do they keep them, send them to mainland Europe or send them back home? 

 

W

Wherever you go in Valletta, Africans hang around everywhere. Won't be long before Valletta is standing room only. These migrants are rather aggressive esp. the women.

So, three youngsters, 15, 16 and 19, got such a ship in their power.

OR... was it an agreement? Captain told, I cannot land you in Malta / Italy so MUST bring you back !

Then, a new idea came up: we highjack the ship, 3 take up the responsability, and.. all 105 others can get landed in EU..

 

Get awake… what YOU would have done to escape out of missery ! ! 

 

4 hours ago, simple1 said:

So you're OK with State torture and abuse?

And who forced them to leave their homelands and go to Libya before acting as pirates? Ahh, I see, it's the european welfare system that makes them "refugees".

1 hour ago, puipuitom said:

So, three youngsters, 15, 16 and 19, got such a ship in their power.

OR... was it an agreement? Captain told, I cannot land you in Malta / Italy so MUST bring you back !

Then, a new idea came up: we highjack the ship, 3 take up the responsability, and.. all 105 others can get landed in EU..

 

Get awake… what YOU would have done to escape out of missery ! ! 

 

Or Captain claims hijack to absolve himself of the responsibility not to land migrants in Malta/Italy.

6 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Something missing from this report?

 

How did three teenagers manage to hijack a tanker that had rescued them?

 

1 hour ago, puipuitom said:

So, three youngsters, 15, 16 and 19, got such a ship in their power.

OR... was it an agreement? Captain told, I cannot land you in Malta / Italy so MUST bring you back !

Then, a new idea came up: we highjack the ship, 3 take up the responsability, and.. all 105 others can get landed in EU..

 

Get awake… what YOU would have done to escape out of missery ! ! 

 

Many modern merchant ships, particularly in the coastal trade, have very small crews, quite possibly only two on the bridge at any one time, one in the engine room, if that is not automated. The days of having lots of burly deckhands are over. Not that hard to "hijack" the ship.

So you're OK with State torture and abuse?

You know and i know these are not running from torture ,they are economic migrants ,sorry if my heart doesnt bleed.

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9 hours ago, Tug said:

Seems so many of us lucky people are so ready to condem others les fortunate those guys dident hurt anyone and god knows what they have gone through in a quest for a better life what they did was wrong but it does not imo warrant draconian punishment 

Maybe not condemn, but definitely group them into the: bank robber, land thief/squatter, farm crop/animal absconder, hitman for hire, restaurant dine/dasher, taxi fare runner, etc, etc.  All can probably claim an unfortunate circumstance, but who to pays for their choice of action?  I'd say the ones forced to pay for anothers discrepancy, is the less fortunate.

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8 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Something missing from this report?

 

How did three teenagers manage to hijack a tanker that had rescued them?

Maybe the crew naively thought the migrants would be grateful at being rescued from the ocean.

1 hour ago, RickBradford said:

Maybe the crew naively thought the migrants would be grateful at being rescued from the ocean.

I think a lot more Captains and crews in the future are simply going to "fail to notice" migrant ships in distress and keep on sailing. 

 

Russian TV actually did a pretty good report on the situation. As you can see, this wasn't a Super Tanker. It was small ship, and with 108 migrants on board the crew was completely outnumbered. No way they could have resisted. Also, get a load of the NGO Spokesman who claims the Pirates were "acting in self defense". Compare his physiognomy to Salvini. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-YJ7MUrGU