After standoff, Aquarius migrants finally disembark in Malta

VALLETTA: The Maltese authorities on Sunday finally allowed 58 migrants from the Aquarius ashore after days waiting in rough seas on board the rescue ship that can no longer go to port after its flag was pulled.

The group, which includes 35 women and children, was transferred to a Maltese patrol boat in international waters and then brought to shore.

The UN’s refugee agency said the migrants – among them Libyans, Afghans and people from sub-Saharan Africa – would be sent on to four European countries following a deal struck earlier this week, ending the latest tense standoff over people rescued at sea.

Among the group are 18 children, 17 women – one of whom is five-months pregnant, 23 men and a dog called Bella, the first animal rescued with migrants in the Mediterranean.

“We hope that they will leave Malta in a few days,” UNHCR representative Paolo Biondi told AFP.

France will take in 18 of them, Germany and Spain will each accept 15 and Portugal will rehome 10.

In a statement, UNHCR hailed the deal which allowed the migrants ashore, saying it happened in a climate of “growing uncertainty over future search and rescue capacities” in the Mediterranean.

And it urged European nations to “rapidly accelerate” their efforts to improve the arrangements for those rescued at sea to come ashore. — AFP