Some 300 healthcare professionals have written to the prime minister, insisting that Malta cannot abandon migrants stranded on drifting boats.

"We acknowledge that the current COVID-19 situation in Malta is serious. However, allowing people to die in the name of public health is contradictory and utterly nonsensical. We cannot abandon our moral and ethical responsibilities and the state likewise cannot abandon its positive obligation to protect the right to life," the letter reads.

The healthcare workers urged the prime minister to reconsider his stance and to come to the aid of those whose lives are at risk at sea.

"If we allow the government to pay for public health with people’s lives, we will have failed in our obligations as citizens, healthcare workers, and as a nation," they insisted.

The letter was drawn up on the initiative of The Daphne Foundation. By Thursday it was signed by over 300, including 180 doctors.  

Read the letter below on pdf below.