Claudia Calleja
Newborn airlifted from migrants boat
AFM sergeant Neville Cilia holds a baby girl born on a boat carrying illegal migrants, after he airlifted her to safety, yesterday. Photo: Italian Military Mission, Malta.
Wrapped in a purple and white rag, a baby girl who was born on a migrants' boat at sea was yesterday airlifted to safety by members of the armed forces.
"She cried on and off as I lifted her out of the boat in a special harness for babies. It was a good sign she was crying, at least we knew she was alright... I think she was just minutes old," Neville Cilia, a sergeant from the AFM's air wing, said.
Once the baby was safe, her mother was winched up to the helicopter on a stretcher as a measure of precaution, Mr Cilia explained, adding she was later given medical assistance.
The mother and child were aboard a boat carrying 84 migrants that was located about 90 miles south of Malta.
The boat was reported by the Italian Ministry of Transport's Rescue Coordination Centre which alerted the AFM yesterday morning.
The boat was last reported making steady progress northwards at six knots, an army spokesman said.
In a similar rescue last November, a baby girl born at sea and her Somali mother were brought to Maltese shores by a Russian ship. Since then the mother, 25-year-old Hatra Chama, has been calling on authorities to grant her baby a birth certificate.
Ms Chama filed a court case arguing that without this certificate her child, now nine months old, did not have a formal identity, status and citizenship that everyone has a right to.
Before moving to France on a burden-sharing initiative, Ms Chama applied for her child's certificate at the public registry but her request was denied. As the certificate cannot be issued in France, it would leave the child with no formal identity.
Last year 60 babies were born to migrant mothers housed in open centres. Contrary to popular belief, children born in Malta to immigrants do not automatically qualify for citizenship.
For citizenship to be granted to a child, one of the parents has to be Maltese. In Malta, refugees can be granted citizenship after living on the island for 10 years and only after applying and going through background checks.
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C.ZARB
Aug 14th 2009, 07:59
a) If Lampedusa is the closest port then every immigrant (whether its a man, woman (pregnant or non) and child should be taken there. The Italians it Lampedusa give children birth like anybody else. If complications arise they have to handle it there so if its good for them, its also good for the immigrants.
b) I think that Ms Chama's daughter deserves some form of official identity but it should never be Maltese citizenship. If we allow that then rest assured that we would have many pregnant women having children in sea. The concept of children has a different concept in many different cultures so what is monstrous for us may look normal for others and viceversa.
lgalea
Aug 14th 2009, 00:24
Raymond Sammut
Not clinics but hospitals Sammut.
Ask yourself. What would Italians do if they needed the same treatment as the ILLEGAL immigrant?
No Sammut. We will not longer be taken for a ride by do-gooders. The ILLEGAL immigrants have had it too good for too lone. They must all be expelled and none allowed to land in Malta for whatever reason. The rest were taken back to Libya. Now it is the turn of this illegal immigrants and her child to follow suit.
Any by the way I am in a position to question the decision taken because I am one of those whose taxes are being needlessly spent on ILLEGAL immigrants who are invading OUR/MY country.
John Borg
Aug 13th 2009, 16:37
Mario Gellel: iva, issa il-Prim Ministru jibghatlek risposta personali bil-messaggier tieghu halli isserrahh rashek. Hallina!
Raymond Sammut
Aug 13th 2009, 15:06
@ lgalea
What you should ask is: "What would 400K+ Maltese do if all they had were the hospitals -- some of which just clinics -- you have listed?" Enough to say that Lampedusa is only a minute Italian outpost of just 6K Italian locals; not even enough to put together a soccer team.
A baby plucked out of an illegal boat under extreme conditions is not like someone giving birth under normal circumstances. The decision to transfer the child immediately to the best facilities available would have been taken by qualified people in accordance with SOLAS regulations. You are in no position whatsoever to question that decision.
lgalea
Aug 13th 2009, 14:14
Raymond Sammut
Lampedusa has its own hospitals Sammut.
Azienda Unita' Sanitaria Locale N.6
Via Roma, 2, Lampedusa (AG) - +39 0922 971311
Ospedale Civico Benfratelli G.
Contrada Grecale, Lampedusa (AG) - +39 0922 971988
Sferlazza Giovanni
Via Vittorio Emanuele, 69, 92010 Lampedusa e Linosa Agrigento
Better facilities? Then what will the residents on Lampedusa do if they are going to give birth or need a hospital?
Robert Scullion
Aug 13th 2009, 14:06
Good to see racism and xeno-phobia also extends to newly borns.
How warped some people must be to be frightened of a little baby ...
Raymond Sammut
Aug 13th 2009, 13:23
@ lgalea
The priority here is the child. It should be clear that Malta has much better facilities than Lampedusa to assist the child. Hence Malta accepts custody of the child by convention, and there should be no qualms about that. This given the emergency inherent in these type of circumstances, regardless of how the latter were brought about. It's about getting the priorities right when there is no immediate control over a given set of circumstances.
Charles Sammut
Aug 13th 2009, 12:50
@ Melita Borg
1. How can the Maltese authorities issue a birth certificate to a baby born on a Russian ship outside Maltese territorial waters? If anything, it is the Russian Federation which should issue the document. But Russians treasure their sovreignty much more than the Maltese do, so it is not going to happen.
2. Libya is not a state of persecution. Stop spewing out nonsense.
3. The boat was probably turned back to Libya, wher it departed illegally. And so should this selfish woman who used her pregnant state and newborn child to extort a passage to Malta. Shameful.
4. See 1.
Raymond Sammut
Aug 13th 2009, 12:50
@ Melita Borg
Libya is not a state of persecution. And it is very illegal to board an illegal boat, especially with minors. Last March 200 drowned, and last January 500 drowned. These drownings have been happening because Maritime Law is being violated and no-one is being held accountable. EU heads of state have a lot to answer for for not taking drastic action by returning these illegal boat people back to Libya and hence stop this ongoing gross and blatant violation of Maritime law.
lgalea
Aug 13th 2009, 12:42
Melita Borg
The boat was not even in Maltese waters and since birth was on a boat the child should be registered in the state the boat is registered in. She has no right to be registered in Malta.
The same applies for Chama. SHE HAS NO RIGHT to it Melita.
mario gellel
I hope the government answers because that is what I and many others are suspecting.
Why was she not sent to Lampedusa which was much nearer than Malta?
Kenneth Galea
Aug 13th 2009, 12:40
@Melita Borg
And the fifth point is:
Make yourself known to the authorities right now because the detention centres are FULL. You embrace illegal immigration therefore you should open the doors of your home to the irresponsible mother and the newly born. People like you talk and mumble and come up with NO solutions.
Melita Borg
Aug 13th 2009, 12:19
1. In requesting a Maltese birth certificate an individual is not requesting Maltese citizenship.
2. There is nothing illegal in fleeing a state of persecution.
3. "The boat was last reported making steady progress northwards at 6 knots..." The boat did not land in Malta.
4. Chama is NOT requesting Maltese citizenship, simply that her daughter be granted some form of official identity.
P James
Aug 13th 2009, 11:42
Irresponsible and selfish to put the life of her child and members of the armed forces in danger just to try claim Maltese Citizenship. She should be sent to prison for her illegal actions.
mario gellel
Aug 13th 2009, 11:40
@GOVT
CAN WE KNOW WHAT HAPPEND TO THE REST??
I HAVE A FEELING THAT THEY WERE BROUGHT TO MALTA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SO WE AS MALTESE WILL NOT KNOW. HOPE I AM WRONG, BUT IF NO GOVT DECLARATION IS MADE, THEN THAT MAKES ME RIGHT .
Kenneth Galea
Aug 13th 2009, 10:20
How dare this woman Chama pretend that her newly born obtains a birth certificate from the Maltese authorities. Chama is NOT a Maltese citizen let alone her newly born.
Why was this newly born mentioned in this article airlifted to Malta and not Libya? Gonzi's inaction is getting on everybody's nerves and enough is enough. Once this newly born and his irresponsible mother touch Maltese soil then we are stuck with them at your own expense of course that is the Maltese taxpayers. What happened to the rest of the illegals? Were they taken back to Libya? Carm ANSWER please!