People arriving by boat to Malta during the COVID-19 pandemic were singled out as a threat to the nation and as less worthy of assistance. Their rights were curtailed making material and physical survival difficult. This article traces forced migration governance in Malta, a member state located on the EU's southern frontier, showing how seamlessly humanitarian elements were eliminated from the system. Theoretically, this is conceptualized as a case of "compassionate repression" shifting to a system here characterized as one of "repression without compassion," where both makeshift practices and discursive portrayals of repressive policies as humane are eliminated.