A group of 24 Maltese authors came together to strongly express their disapproval of the Government’s threat to send back a group of Somali migrants to Libya.

The decision or “even mere consideration” was an action that would have placed their lives in grave danger, the writers said in a joint statement.

Last Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights stopped the deportation of the migrants at the eleventh hour – a decision the Maltese Government respected.

The authors said they were “dismayed” by the lack of human compassion displayed by the Government, as evidenced by the fact the action was stopped only after the European court’s intervention.

The Government had the power “but above all the moral duty” to offer its protection to the migrants – people who lived in the most trying circumstances.

No amount of “national interest” could justify such an act, especially since these refugees were about to be sent back in breach of their fundamental right to make their case, said the authors.

“For this reason, as Maltese citizens, we dissociate ourselves from this decision because we are convinced that it is in violation of all principles of human dignity,” they said.

The statement was signed by Clare Azzopardi, Keith Azzopardi, Simon Bartolo, Gilbert Calleja, Glen Calleja, Antoine Cassar, Leanne Ellul, Annalise Falzon, Albert Gatt, Claudia Gauci, Simone Galea, Elizabeth Grech, Maria Grech Ganado, Adrian Grima, Tyron Grima, Simone Inguanez, Caldon Mercieca, Immanuel Mifsud, Nadja Mifsud, Walid Nabhan, John Portelli, Marco Scerri, Mark Vella, Karl Schembri and Simone Spiteri.