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A Maltese Armed Forces Vessel (right) approaches a refugee boat carrying around 25 people
[Julius.Hoheisel/sea-watch.org]
THE Maltese coastguard's raison d'etre was called into question today after one of its vessels abandoned a refugee boat within its search-and-rescue (SAR) zone.
The Moonbird, a monitoring aircraft belonging to German refugee rescue charity Sea Watch, informed the authorities yesterday that it had spotted around 25 people without lifejackets trying to use their hands to paddle a small wooden boat in the central Mediterranean.
Italy's maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) later contacted its Maltese counterpart, telling it that the case is within its SAR and to assume responsibility.
MARJORIE MAYO recommends an accessible and unsettling novel that uses a true incident of death in the Channel to raise questions of wider moral responsibility