Granting Libyan pilots asylum ‘would send strong message’
Video: Alan Adami
Libyan campaigners have dismissed concerns by the Refugees Commissioner that a petition asking for the two Libyan pilots who defected to Malta to be granted asylum could jeopardise the safety of their families back home.
“I assure (Refugees Commissioner) Mario Friggieri the petitioners are painfully aware of the threat to not only the families of the pilots but to Libyans generally. By no means do we wish to endanger anyone but the suggestion that the Libyan authorities are somehow unaware of the identities of air force personnel who disobeyed orders and ran off with fighter jets is borderline absurd,” said Abdulla Darrat, an expatriate Libyan activist helping to run the pro-reform campaign Enough.
The claim only served as a justification for Malta’s inaction in the face of mounting injustices, he said.
The pilots defected to Malta in their jet fighters claiming they refused to follow orders to bomb civilians on February 21. Both airmen are seeking political asylum and their request is now before the Refugees Commissioner.
Mr Friggieri said last week the petitioners behind the campaign “are not considering the harm that can be done to their (the pilots’) families in Libya”.
Almost 35,000 people signed the petition promoted on www.change.org, which reads: “Refugees Commissioner Mario Guido Friggieri has not yet made clear whether the pilots will be granted asylum. If the pilots are sent back to Libya, they will likely be executed.”
Mr Friggieri would not even comment on whether the pilots had applied for asylum or not.
The campaigners are insisting the Libyan government knows full well the identity of the pilots and could exact revenge independently of any campaign. On the other hand, granting the pilots asylum and making it known would send a message to other pilots or soldiers considering defection.
“Recent aerial bombardments in the east of Libya suggest hesitancy among some pilots who seem to be purposefully missing targets.
The Maltese government has the power to offer hope to these Libyans, who, as things stand, have few options but to obey orders despite their better judgment,” Mr Darrat insisted.
Change.org’s director Weldon Kennedy stressed that the Maltese government had done a brave job protecting the identity of the two pilots and turning away a Libyan crew sent to retrieve the jets a week after they landed here.
“I sincerely hope they will continue this kind of leadership by listening to what Libyan grassroot activists are asking of them and grant asylum to the two pilots they are already protecting.”
Granting asylum to the two pilots would send a powerful message to other military people that if they defect there would be a safe haven for them, he insisted.
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Sarah Mifsud
Mar 12th 2011, 10:55
Granting asylum or not is a legal issue, not a political one. If they qualify for asylum then they should get it. This is not a matter for public debate.
Tom Broadley
Mar 11th 2011, 10:32
Well said John Micallef, this minister should get his act together.
Eugenio Pacelli
Mar 10th 2011, 21:41
Let us send this message!
c stevenson
Mar 10th 2011, 20:49
To A Grech
A solution could be to intern(internment) the said pilots whilst the conflict in Libya is continuing,using The Hague Convention 2
Then to clarify their status,as in refugee,defector or asylum seeker.Its a very tentative situation for Malta
A. Grech
Mar 10th 2011, 17:53
I assume that the Refugee Commisioner would grant asylum to those two pilots in short time. If the Commissioner says other wise not to grant them asylum they go back to Libya and that will be the end of them,because they will not see any daylight. They will be killed in no time and no body will know.So do some decent work and do the right thing. ASYLUM
c stevenson
Mar 10th 2011, 17:43
As I understand enlisted servicemen cannot seek political asylum as stated in the Geneva Convention therefore I wonder how Malta will get around that?
Marlene F Hills
Mar 10th 2011, 16:48
These pilots should be given if not asylum some kind of "house arrest" until the matter is solved because sending would mean death for them... However,, how do we know they were not bribed to do this act. For, if they sided with the Rebels why did not they defect to the other side.As for their families,I would not be in their shoes, unless they too have fled. The planes should have been sent back by the Libyan pilots who came to claim them. America,not so much Obama himself , although he's under pressure from the neo-cons, is being extra cautious as is our William Haig foreign affairs minister ,learning from previous mistakes. A No Fly zone is an aggressive piece of strategy. It means the Western allies bombing and destroying the airfields and all aircraft in Libya and if that is not a bad sign for others to intervene to help Libya where will it end??
MPace
Mar 10th 2011, 16:33
The return of these pilots will be certain execution, their blood will be on your hands. It is in these cases that we should offer asylum not when thousand of emigrants come here illegally knowing that most of them come here to make money and not for protection.
Michael Grech (one who signed the petition)
Mar 10th 2011, 15:00
I'm truly ashamed of being Maltese.
J Zerafa
Mar 11th 2011, 10:06
Same here! Two lives are at stake and here we are ....playing stratego! Le le insara ahna!
Mark Micallef Eynaud
Mar 10th 2011, 14:02
A few observations re these issues.
First of all the question of political asylum for the two Libyan pilots. They would have been more than aware of the potential repercussions upon their families and associates yet still planned a flight into the unknown. That was their decision to make. To even consider handing them back to a certain execution is unthinkable.
As already stated - internment until the future of Libya is resolved is the wise and only realistic option.
With regard to the possibility of other defections / requests for political asylum. At most LIbya is 30 minutes flight time from Malta. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that aircraft will have the fuel to reach Malta - otherwise they would not have the fuel to complete a mission in the first place. And before we talk about blocking runways all modern fighters have extremely reliable ejection systems that would preclude the requirement for a landing if one is that desperate. So we are not going to get away from the fact that the longer this unfortunate conflict in Libya carries on the more likely we are to face similar defections.
tony formosa
Mar 10th 2011, 12:54
Sur Friggieri tirredikolax lill- Malta b'argumenti bla sens. Anzi int ex-Gizwita missek taf x'jigrilhom jekk imorru lura l-libya. Inti tista tipperikola lill-pajjizna minn ostilita minn libjani u allura nghidlek aghtihom kenn f'Malta u x'jigri ghada toqghodx tinkwita jew trid tkun ta' paraventu ghall-ministru Bonnici li ma' jafx joiddeciedi
Alfred Bugeja
Mar 10th 2011, 13:39
What a load of rubbish, Mr Formosa.
Asylum procedures are decided according to the laws of our country, the Refugees Act to start with. That is the metre that the Refugee Commissioner uses to decide on applications. He's not supposed to heed to petitions or your muttering for that matter.
S.Ciantar
Mar 10th 2011, 12:42
I sinerely hope the Maltese Government listens to the MALTESE PEOPLE - AND THESE ARE CLEARLY TELLING YOU TO GUARD OUR INTERESTS FIRST AND FOREMOST DELAY ANY DECISION UNTIL THE CONFLICT IS OVER - its bad enough that you did not give back the planes when you had no legal right to retain them risking the anger of a dangerous and desperate man !!
“I sincerely hope they will continue this kind of leadership by listening to what Libyan grassroot activists are asking of them and grant asylum to the two pilots they are already protecting"
Raymond Sammut
Mar 10th 2011, 11:37
Clearly, granting asylum to these two pilots would not have any ramifications on whether more Libyan pilots would defect. Following the defection of these two pilots, the Libyan air force command would have ordered fuel supply to be limited in order to reduce aircraft range. Reducing the re-fueling level limits operation strictly to within Libyan airspace, and forces the pilot to return immediately to base once the payload had been discharged.
Interestingly, even the option to bail out and crash the plane has been removed by denying pilots the bail-out facility. This is evident from the last reported hit Sukhoi, whereby the Sudanese pilot and his unidentified co-pilot both died in the crash for this obvious reason of duress. These appear to be serious war-crimes that are being committed presently in Libya both against civilians and against combatants.
martin saliba
Mar 10th 2011, 13:28
RUBBISH ! Flying distance from triploi to malta is only about 2/3 that of from triploi to benghazi so even if an aircraft flys halfway to bengazi and back it would have more that enough feul to reach malta and popssibly mainland europe. It is very evident that you have no idea of the sheer size of libya.
Raymond Sammut
Mar 10th 2011, 15:21
@ martin saliba
The Libyan air force has not been bombing Benghazi in recent days. Furthest bombings from Tripoli have been over Ras Lanuf. And airfields used are not necessarily located in or near Tripoli. Like you say, Libya is a big place, with airfields located deep south away from the coastline. I do not recommend you become a military tactician. If I may suggest a different profession.
martin saliba
Mar 10th 2011, 17:17
Pity you weren't recriuted by the US military. You could have advised them on how to deal with afghanistan and iraq. Dare i say vietnam also.
martin saliba
Mar 10th 2011, 17:26
For your information Ras lanuf is 650 Km east of tripoli which makes it a round trip of 1300 Km.
http://www.libyaonline.com/business/details.php?id=13275
Raymond Sammut
Mar 10th 2011, 23:53
@ martin saliba
You only have information on Ras Lanuf. If you want to attack Ras Lanuf by aerial bombing, you will also need to know where your airfields are. Frankly, I haven't checked, but my guess is that the Libyan air force has airfields south of Ras Lanuf. If not, then you could be right.
albert leone ganado
Mar 10th 2011, 11:08
As a neutral country we should follow the accepted practices and body of international case law that other neutral countries like Switzerland and Ireland have followed in wartime especially now that the Libyan situation can be considered as a state of warfare. By adhering to established rules we cannot be accused by either side of favouring the other. I believe that the position of such defectors is covered by the fifth article of the Hague convention. The proper course of action is internment of the pilots whilst offering them our full protection. .
John Micallef
Mar 10th 2011, 10:51
This interview, proves the poor diplomatic performance of this minister.
I'm pretty sure that this statement is not backed buy any diplomatic consultants!
Wise enough, their asylum for these pilots have to be given agreed ok, but NOT NOW. As it will invite others to follow them. This will be a very bad precedent.
Especially knowing that Libyan ID cards barely exists or are expired (same as hours) & passports are mostly expired, as their implementation suffered huge delays (same like our too!!)
martin saliba
Mar 10th 2011, 13:09
" Wise enough, their asylum for these pilots have to be given agreed ok, but NOT NOW. As it will invite others to follow them. This will be a very bad precedent " How ignorant and selfish of you. The main point of giving these brave pilots asylum is in the hope that others WOULD follow them.
John Micallef
Mar 10th 2011, 13:17
Hahaj, i tought someone will quote that!!!
It seems no one ever played poker in our diplomatic service!!
Tell me if you were a thir pilot will you do it after reading this, & guess what? your answer is yessssss!
Ray Gatt
Mar 11th 2011, 09:50
Mr. Micallef, I can't take you seriously as in your red eyes, anything this administration does is a disaster. You're not able to be just and say good when it's good and bad when it's bad. You are too extreme.