Former prime ministers Lawrence Gonzi and Alfred Sant on Friday weighed in on whether they would leave migrants stranded at sea.  

In an episode of Xarabank on Friday night, Gonzi said that he would give the order for the Armed Forces to bring in migrant boats when he was still in the hot seat until 2013. 

Meanwhile, Sant, who was prime minister between 1996 and 1998, said that he would do what the government was doing today by pressuring the EU to shoulder its responsibility.  

He would not say whether he would leave the migrants at sea or not, saying only that “it depends”, but was interrupted before he could elaborate further.  

The issue of migrant rescues at sea hit the headlines again this month after the government last week announced that it would no longer be accepting migrant disembarkation as the country’s resources were all focused on containing the coronavirus outbreak.  

The decision, which followed a similar decree by the Italian government, has raised controversy after one of a number of migrant boats left stranded was returned to Libya with a number of dead among those onboard. 

In a short segment on the Friday night’s episode, Gonzi said Malta had signed international conventions in the past that oblige Malta rescue those at sea.    

This, he said, was over and above the moral obligation to rescue those in need.  

“Being prime minister right now is not easy, these decisions are not easy. But that is why you are the one sat in that seat, to take the tough decisions,” Gonzi said.  

Meanwhile, Sant said the current situation had to be seen in the context of today.  

Libya was in the grips of a civil war, and the Malta could not shoulder the flows of migrants alone. 

Migrants, he said, were being targeted by traffickers, and this was what needed to be addressed first and foremost.