Robert Abela gets quarantine exemption after official Libya visit

The Public Health Superintendent has consented to a request from the Office of the Prime Minister, to exempt Prime Minister Robert Abela from a mandatory quarantine period after his lightning visit to Tripoli.

In a notice published in the Government Gazette, Prof. Charmaine Gauci instructed that the provisions of the quarantine public order had been suspended from 28 May, 2020, for all persons on Flight 9H-ELI CITATION X travelling from Malta to Libya, and returning that same day.

“This suspension is granted on the basis that the persons travelling on these flights provide an essential service, the very limited period of time that was spent abroad, national security emergency relating to the travel and urgency of the trip abroad,” the Superintendent said.

Abela travelled to Libya on Thursday for talks with the head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj.

Malta and Libya will be setting up joint coordination units in their respective capitals to tackle the migration crisis.

Al-Sarraj and Abela also discussed Operation IRINI, and agreed that this should consider both Malta and Libya’s reservations about the work it was doing.

Al-Sarraj praised Malta’s support for the GNA, saying he hoped cooperation between the two countries would continue to grow. He said the GNA was determined to defeat aggression in Libya, for the country to regain stability.

Abela reconfirmed Malta’s support for the GNA and its rejection of any war in Tripoli. He underlined that the solution to the conflict could only come through political dialogue and not military intervention.

The Maltese premier reiterated Malta’s firm position on the need to address and stop human trafficking, stating that Malta is facing unprecedented and disproportionate flows and burdens.