Nearly 12,000 people have fled Libya for Malta over the span of a week, travelling by air and sea.

More than 14 Maltese who want to be evacuated are still in Libya, after some 214 have already arrived and 23 were on their way last night.

Twenty-two do not want to leave yet, some because they would like to wait for all their employees to be evacuated beforehand.

Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg yesterday told the press that Malta’s efforts had been praised by a number of countries and also by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

He also said Malta had “drastically” reduced the number of its nationals trying to leave Libya at an “impressive” rate.

Of those who remain in Libya, 10 work in the desert or on offshore oil rigs and are in constant contact with the government. The other four are said to be in Tripoli but have established no contact with the ministry.

“They could have returned without telling us,” Dr Borg said.

Meanwhile, four ships brought over some 3,231 people to the island yesterday, including 16 Maltese.

A total of 8,241 people from 89 different countries have been brought to the island by sea, while another 3,525 have been evacuated on the 212 flights related to the Libya crisis seen this week.

Only one person who was evacuated remains in hospital. Another seven who were hospitalised have been discharged.

Dr Borg said Malta had been requested to help evacuate a large number of Egyptian workers in Libya. Some 1.5 million Egyptians are said to be in the country although many are crossing the borders to Tunisia or Egypt itself.

Malta to ‘stay neutral’

Although Malta’s ambassador to Libya has returned, two embassy officials have remained in Tripoli and do not plan to return yet, so as to help those who are stranded, as well as to attend various embassy meetings. These are Joe Pirotta and Nader Salem Rizzo.

Meanwhile, Malta was one of the first countries to impose the UN sanctions on Libya, imposing an arms embargo, freezing the assets of Muammar Gaddafi’s family members and imposing a travel ban on these and other people in Col Gaddafi’s circle.

“The sanctions are limited and targeted so as not to affect the people of Libya as sometimes happens with other types of sanctions,” Mr Borg said.

Meanwhile, Malta is adopting a “wait and see” approach to the idea of imposing a no-fly zone since this could prove difficult to enforce and could endanger foreigners still in Libya, preventing their evacuation.

However, Dr Borg insisted Malta should be at the centre of bringing humanitarian aid to Libya, even though “everything in life has its risks”. In fact, humanitarian aid could prove dangerous if done by military vessels or planes and seen by the Libyan government as a provocation.

But Dr Borg said it would be “irresponsible” of Malta not to be part of the aid efforts under such circumstances, especially if ordered by the UN or the EU.

“We have been very careful about what to authorise and what not to authorise. At no point did we authorise any military intervention. We just want to help save lives and give the necessary assistance,” Dr Borg said. He vowed Malta would keep its neutrality as stipulated in the Constitution. Legally, it would only be permitted to participate in military action if this fell under the UN charter or was in Malta’s interest to do so on its own volition.

Dr Borg explained that if Col Gaddafi were to stay in power, Libya would be split in two, prompting a civil war, which was the “worst kind of war”.

Asked whether Malta’s position would change in that case, Dr Borg said Malta would not belong to any military alliance but could participate in action if the UN were to order it.

“I’m not going to say we can consider it or that we will do it. I’m just saying we are allowed to do so.”