The Church's Justice and Peace Commission has called out authorities' "deafening silence" concerning migrants' crises and deaths at sea. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the commission urged politicians to prioritise the saving of lives and refrain from using language that fans the flames of indifference.

The statement followed the "unnecessary death of a four-year-old girl", Loujin, because action to save her life and those of the other 60 people who left Lebanon and were stranded at sea, came too late.

The girl died from thirst while being airlifted to a hospital, after she was found unconscious during the rescue operation. 

President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca had also commented on the situation in a Facebook post.

Sharing the girl's photo, she said she was disappointed that Malta was mentioned as one of the countries that “left the girl out cold to die”.

Another, separate, child was airlifted to Malta on Sunday after Italian authorities that rescued a group of migrants within Malta's search and rescue zone found her critically dehydrated.

Maltese authorities have neither confirmed nor denied that airlift rescue and nothing is known of that girl's condition. 

In its statement, the commission also said that the legitimate queries from relatives, journalists, NGO representatives and citizens of goodwill regarding the location of boats and any action being undertaken by the Armed Forces of Malta should not be met with silence or summarily dismissed. 

"Far from being traitors or enemies of the state, people who raise their voices in favour of saving lives at sea are honouring our vocation to be ⁠- in the words of Pope Francis during his visit to Malta last April ⁠- a 'safe haven' for migrants, thus helping to prevent the 'sinking of civilisation' which threatens us all.

"Despite Pope Francis urging citizens to 'move from indifference to solidarity', it is sad to note that in Malta, Loujin’s death was once again met with deafening silence from certain quarters."

Since January, more than 1,000 asylum-seekers have lost their lives in the Mediterranean. These near-daily tragedies do not always make headlines.

Commission president Daniel Darmanin said: “We seem to have gotten used to this tragic and avoidable loss of life. When these people cry for help, no one seems to be listening. And if we are listening, we don’t seem to care enough to do something about it.

“The migration issue is certainly complex and complicated. However, when it comes to rescue at sea, we can never lose sight of one simple truth: there aren’t some human beings who are more worthy of our consideration, care, and protection than others. When lives are at stake, everything else is secondary.”

The Justice and Peace Commission hopes that Loujin’s untimely death shocks Malta into action and helps the people shake off, once and for all, "the torpor of indifference" that leads to cruel loss of life.