Rescued migrants arrive in Malta ahead of EU redistribution

VALLETTA: A group of 58 migrants was transferred from a charity-run rescue ship and taken onshore by a Maltese patrol boat on Sunday, ahead of their relocation to Germany and other European Union states.

“All migrants who disembarked in Malta will be transferred to four other European countries in the coming days,” the Government of Malta said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a deal was struck to allow migrants picked up off Libya by the rescue ship Aquarius to be disembarked in Malta and then airlifted to France, Portugal, Spain and Germany, ending a diplomatic spat.

The Aquarius is run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The two nongovernmental organisations (NGOS) had to wait several days before handing over the migrants to Maltese authorities, due to rough weather conditions.

“After 5 days waiting at sea near Malta, this morning all 58 rescued people on board the #Aquarius will be transferred to the Maltese maritime authorities for disembarkation in Malta,” MSF wrote on Twitter.

Mathilde Auvillan, an SOS Mediterranee spokeswoman, said a female dog named Bella was also handed over to the Maltese. The pet was rescued at sea along with a Libyan family, she added.

Aquarius is the last NGO rescue ship operating in the central Mediterranean. Others left after Italy and Malta banned rescue vessels from their ports, arguing that they encourage illegal migrant crossings.

The Aquarius risks having to stop operations because it was told by Panama it will lose its Panama flag, just weeks after it a previous deregistration by Gibraltar. It will not be able to sail again unless another nation accepts to register it.

After the Maltese migrant handover, the ship was headed to the French port of Marseille.