(Times of Malta) One of a group of seven Syrian men arrested last April over suspicious jihadist activity on social media has been granted bail after spending 10 months in preventive custody. Ajil Al Muhsen, 21, was arraigned last year alongside six […]
(Times of Malta) A man who was arrested by the police on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities has been charged in court with trying to help someone enter Malta illegally. Magistrate Noel Bartolo heard police inspector Zachary Zammit explain how Syrian […]
(Malta Today) Malta’s secret service, the MSS, said that while terrorism prevention is at the top of its agenda, its workload has been characterised by investigations against drug trafficking and illegal migration, as well as cyber-threats to critical infrastructure. Malta registered a […]
(Malta Today) A court has cleared the way for the indictment of two Syrian nationals on terrorism-related offences, decreeing that there was a case to answer. Farhan Mohammed Sheikh, 29, and 23-year-old Abdullah Aliwi, both from Homs in Syria, are accused of […]
(Times of Malta) A Syrian man arrested following a magisterial inquiry into reports of terrorism-related activity in Malta transferred some €2.5 million to 13 countries in two years, an investigation has revealed. A money laundering inspector testified that the transfers were multi-national, […]
(Times of Malta) Three Syrian men, tracked down following a magisterial inquiry into reports of terrorism-related activity, were on Friday charged with money laundering, involvement in a criminal organisation and sharing of terrorist material. One of the men, who faced the lesser […]
(Malta Today) Mobile phones belonging to men accused of terrorism-related charges contained over 100 videos containing flags of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State or Daesh, some showing macabre executions, a court has been told today. A police sergeant from […]
(Times of Malta) Seven Syrian men, in preventive custody since their arraignment in May over suspicious jihadist activity on social media, are claiming a breach of their right to a fair hearing since their continued arrest was not reviewed fortnightly in terms […]
(Times of Malta) Investigators found bomb-making instructions on the phones of five men who were among seven arrested last month over suspicious jihadist social media activity, a court heard on Thursday. They included pictures and diagrams explaining how a variety of bombs […]
(Malta Today) The compilation of evidence against the seven men arrested in April on terrorism-related charges began before Magistrate Nadine Lia on Monday. Ajil Al Muhsen (21), Adnan Maashi (21), Yazan Abduklaziz (26), Ahmed Kadas (25), Khalil Al Mahmoud (21), Ahmed Ahmed […]
(Malta Today) The attorney general’s decision to file terrorism charges against a group of seven young people from Syria [has] been described as an over-reaction by sources within the police force. They told MaltaToday that the youths arrested last week in an […]
(Malta Independent) Seven young Syrian men were arraigned in court on Sunday evening on charges related to terrorism. The young men are aged between 21 and 27. They are Ajil Al Muhsen, Adnan Maashi, Yazan Abduklaziz, Ahmed Kadas, Khalil Al Mahmoud, Ahmed […]
(AP) Less than a week after a deadly migrant shipwreck off Italy, five European Union countries on the Mediterranean Sea pushed back Saturday against their northern neighbors for not accepting asylum-seekers under a voluntary relocation initiative. The ministers responsible for migration policy […]
(AP) Four Mediterranean European Union nations have issued a joint statement on a dispute over a deal for Europe to jointly help asylum-seekers. In their statement Saturday, Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus repeated their positions that they “cannot subscribe to the notion […]
(AP) Several Mediterranean nations said Saturday the European Union’s border agency Frontex needs to work inside third countries to stop smugglers from endangering the lives of migrants by sending them off to Europe on risky boat trips. Top officials from Spain, Greece, […]
(AP) Five European Union nations on the Mediterranean who fear possible waves of refugees driven by hunger out of Africa called Saturday for an end to the EU’s “voluntary” solidarity on migrants and a better way to redistribute the burden of caring […]
(Reuters) Mediterranean countries on major migrant routes into Europe expect over 150,000 arrivals this year as food shortages caused by the Ukraine conflict threaten a new migration wave from Africa and the Middle East. “This year the frontline member states are expected, […]
(AP) Some 32 migrants who were held for weeks at sea on tourism boats chartered by the Maltese government during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic have filed a constitutional complaint in a Maltese court claiming their human rights were violated. […]
(AFP) Italy is pushing EU partners to revive migrant burden-sharing deals as it seeks to stave off a summertime surge in landings from North Africa, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Wednesday. Migration has returned to the top of the political agenda in […]
(AP) The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably. “We can no longer be punished for our geographical position,” Malta’s Byron Camilleri said […]
(AP) The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe are meeting in Greece to discuss the European Union’s policies as the bloc works toward a new migration pact. Ministers from Italy, Spain, Malta, […]
(AP) Independent human rights experts who work with the United Nations say Italy failed to protect the “right to life” of over 200 migrants who died when the boat they were on sank in the Mediterranean Sea over seven years ago. The […]
(Malta Today) The imam of the Paola mosque, Mohammed El Sadi, has once again called for the criminalisation of blasphemy and the mocking of faiths, in a reaction to the fanatical murder of a French teacher who displayed the notorious Charlie Hebdo […]
(Reuters) Sixty-five migrants who were in a group of 94 people rescued at sea and taken to Malta on Monday have tested positive for COVID-19, Malta’s health ministry said on Tuesday. It was the single largest cluster of positive cases detected on […]
(Malta Today) “Help me, please help me,” were the first words a 15-year-old girl told the police when they stormed her house to arrest her father, who was charged earlier today with Malta’s first “honour crime.” The man, from Syria, was remanded […]
(Times of Malta) Migrants who have spent the past three days aboard a ship built to house animals were brought to Malta late on Tuesday night. Sources said that the roughly 50 people aboard the MV Talia were transferred to an Armed […]
(AFP) After suicide attempts, fights erupting on board, and migrants jumping into the sea, charity SOS Mediterranee launched an emergency alert on Friday, demanding to be allowed to immediately disembark at a safe port. The humanitarian group, whose vessel the Ocean Viking […]
(Times of Malta) Migrants on board a government-chartered tourist boat off Malta occupied the kitchen, grabbed knives and threatened to blow up a gas cylinder and burn rubbish, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday. “They gave us half an hour to […]
(Times of Malta) Some 425 migrants who were being held offshore on four tourist boats were finally allowed to disembark on Saturday-Sunday night amid fears of a takeover on one of them. Some of the migrants had been held at sea for […]
(Reuters) Europe’s leading human rights body urged Malta on Thursday to allow disembarkation of more than 400 migrants being held on four former tour group boats just outside the Mediterranean island’s territorial waters. Some of the migrants have been held at sea […]
(AP) More than 400 migrants are living aboard pleasure cruise vessels bobbing in the sea off Malta, many of them for weeks now. But for them, it’s no pleasure, only uncertainty over their fate and they aren’t cruising anywhere. Rescued from human […]
(Times of Malta) A magisterial inquiry into whether the prime minister, the brigadier, and the crew of an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat were responsible for the deaths of at least five migrants at sea has cleared them of homicide. The […]
(Reuters) Malta on Friday rescued a group of 140 migrants from a sinking dinghy but refused to bring them to land, holding them instead on a chartered tourist harbour cruise boat just outside territorial waters. The rescue was conducted by a Maltese […]
(AFP) The UN voiced alarm Friday at reports that countries are failing to help migrants in distress on the Mediterranean Sea, blocking assistance by NGOs and coordinating pushbacks of their boats. UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville warned during a virtual press […]
(Reuters) Malta told its European Union partners on Friday it would no longer take part in a new Mediterranean mission to stop more arms reach[ing] warring factions in Libya, just four days after the naval and air operation began patrols. A Maltese […]
(Reuters) Italian coastguards have impounded two charity rescue boats at the port of Palermo citing “technical and operational” irregularities, which the owners denounced as an excuse to block life-saving missions at sea. The seizure of the German-flagged Alan Kurdi and Spanish-flagged Aita […]
(Reuters) Malta plans to keep 57 rescued migrants aboard a private ship anchored just outside territorial waters until the European Union finds a way to rehouse them, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Friday. The migrants were plucked from a dinghy earlier […]
(AP) Aid group Doctors without Borders said Friday it is ending its cooperation with partner SOS Mediterranee amid disagreement over the continued rescue of migrants. Doctors without Borders, which is also known by its French acronym MSF, said it wants to continue […]
(Reuters) A group of North African migrants rescued from a sinking boat came ashore in Malta early on Friday, hours after the government had said no further groups would be allowed in after it closed its ports due to the coronavirus emergency. […]
(Reuters) Malta can no longer guarantee the rescue of migrants or allow their disembarkation during the coronavirus emergency, the Malta government said on Thursday. It said the decision had been taken because its resources were stretched by the enforcement of measures to […]
(Reuters) Some 1,000 African migrants were placed under mandatory quarantine on Sunday after an outbreak of COVID-19 and their camp at Hal Far in the south of Malta was surrounded by police and army trucks to ensure compliance. Health Minister Chris Fearne […]
(AP) A large majority of European Union member countries have refused to back a plan to quickly get migrants off boats in the Mediterranean Sea and distribute them among willing EU partners. At a meeting of EU interior ministers, only Ireland, Luxembourg […]
(Reuters) Interior ministers from five European Union countries said on Monday they had agreed a new scheme to distribute migrants saved from the Mediterranean in a deal aimed at relieving the pressure on southern EU states. The plan will be presented to […]
(Times of Malta) There is an imbalance between the high number of girls at risk of female genital mutilation and the low prosecution rates in Malta, according to the EU’s centre on gender equality, which is calling for higher awareness. In October […]
(Times of Malta) Half of the girls in Malta who originate from countries where female genital mutilation is practised are at risk of this severe form of violence. The percentage of girls at risk is the highest among countries forming part of […]
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