Keith Schembri

The decision-making process within the Maltese government was a collective one, with policies and positions discussed by himself, Schembri, and two other officials. Moreover, Schembri is childhood friends with Muscat. It therefore appears that Malta’s migration policy evolved out of a collective decision-making process in which Schembri played a central role and was always kept abreast of new developments (See Malta Report, Section A: Decision-Making Structure).

Given the above, and given Schembri's tenure from 2013 to November 2019, Schembri can be considered to share responsibility for all of Malta's official policies at the European Council council, as outlined in the section on Joseph Muscat.

Neville Gafa has said he meets Schembri on a near-daily basis, and the two are neighbors.Under oath Gafa, has said that Schembri and him often go for 60-minute or 90-minute walks but only “talk about football”. Given this close association, and given Gafa's work for the Office of the PM (where Schembri would likely have been his superior) it is likely that Schembri would have known of Gafa's involvement in negotiating an alleged secret deal with the Libyan Coast Guard whereby the Armed Forces of Malta would coordinate with the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrants headed towards Malta. (See Malta Report, Chapter IV: Malta-Libya deal).

Neville Gafa has said he meets Schembri on a near-daily basis, and the two are neighbors.Under oath Gafa, has said that Schembri and him often go for 60-minute or 90-minute walks but only “talk about football”. Given this close association, and given Gafa's work for the Office of the PM (where Schembri would likely have been his superior) it is likely that Schembri would have known of Gafa's practice of sharing information with the Libyan Coast Guard.