MOAS hold high level forum on Global Migration in Malta
On Friday 27 May, from 09.30 - 14.00 (CET) Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) are hosting a conference at the Maritime Museum in Birgu, Malta to mark the next stage of their life-saving mission in the Mediterranean.
You can watch live streaming of the conference here:
Annalisa Piras, maker of The Great European Disaster Movie and Wake Up Foundation Trustee will be attending the conference to speak about her new film Europe at Sea, currently in production.
Speaking on arrival in Valetta, Malta, Annalisa Piras said:
“Europe is facing not a crisis of refugees and migrants, but a crisis of solidarity, a crisis of values. MOAS has not just saved thousands of lives, it has helped galvanise a more powerful outcry from civil society across Europe. The stuttering political response of the European Union and member states to the desperate situation of refugees and migrants in the Aegean and the Mediterranean is the subject of my new film Europe at Sea.”
For the past two decades, the Central Mediterranean has been the main and deadliest maritime migratory route for hundreds of people fleeing war, persecution and economic deprivation. In 2015, the world has been largely focused on the Aegean Sea, which became the route of choice for Syrian refugees making the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece. Following the EU-Turkey deal, the situation has changed dramatically. Although in March 2016, Italy reported an increase of 300% arrivals from Libya, numbers in April decreased compared with last year.
The conference will ask what will happen to migration in Europe in the coming months. Gathering experts in migration from Syria, Libya, UK, Italy and Malta across the sectors of journalism, culture, research and academia, the conference will ask whether we will see a shift in sea routes in the next months and whether the route from Egypt to Italy reopenin
Panellists and VIP guests include:
- President of the Republic of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro
- Malek Jandali, world-renowned composer and pianist, Founder of Pianos for Peace
- Nando Sigona, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Institute of Research into Superdiversity, University of Birmingham
- Sami Zaptia, Managing Editor, Libya Herald
- Cecilia Strada, President, Emergency
- Alganesh Fessaha, President, Gandhi Foundation
Following the conference, those taking part will have the opportunity to visit the MOAS Search and Rescue vessel, the M.Y. Phoenix