I love being European, but sometimes I feel very, very ashamed

[Kralizec]

The Maltese captain of the Budafel refused to land the men, he later explained, because he had $1m-worth of tuna in the pen. If he had taken them to Malta, the trip would have taken 12 days, given the tug's slow speed. There, he would have found himself in the middle of a diplomatic wrangle. "I couldn't take the risk of losing this catch," he said.

The captain informed the Maltese authorities...

For fishermen lke the fella in the story above that tuna is his lifeblood for the year. if he was detained, prevented from landing and caught up in legal proceedings long enough that he catch would not be viable, how would he and his crew feed their families?

The captain is not a paragon of virtue, but his decision is at least understandable. The stone cold truth is that if he had done the right thing, it would have brought him and his crew to economic ruin.
The Maltese authorities should have brought them in and deported them back - but they're probably not wanted back.

It's the people who give these poor souls false impressions about a rosy future in Europe and earn money by trafficking them who should be keeled.

[Ja'chyra]

The maritime captain broke the law. Pity he isn't swinging from a yardarm. All his catch should have been impounded and the profits go to Italy for doing the right thing.

Did he?

I thought at sea the Captains word was law barring things like murder etc. Is there a law that states that a captain must pick up anyone whose ship has foundered?

[JR-]

on these boards we often see quite a few posters who believe the capitalist form of civilization is a great benefit and there is nothing wrong with it - this story shows how wrong this is, as with any capitalist society a life has a price tag - the tuna were worth more than the immigrants and so the captain chose the right choice (by the capitalist view point) - any civilization that values a item (the fish in this case) less than a human life is in severe need of a shake up - currently no government would reimburse the loss's the captain would have taken if he had delivered the immigrants and so the fish are far more valuable...

the real failure here is that of the government rather than capitalism.

the captain was aware that there was precedent for detaining fishing boats for extended periods whilst investigations into illegal immigration went on.

he was sat on $1m in tuna, which may well have spoiled before he was able to market it.

his fishing boat is probably on a huge mortgage which he may lose due to being unable to make repayments after losing £1m in tuna (a months worth?).

having lost his boat, he may well end up bankrupt, then it will be his children that go without food.

the captain was wrong not to allow them on board, his government was equally bad for putting him in an invidious position whereby he may lose everything he owns for no good reason, if he does the right thing.

i have very little sympathy with the illegal immigrants however.