First group of Lifeline migrants leave Malta for France

The first group of 52 migrants brought to Malta on the MV Lifeline last week left Malta yesterday for France, one of the other eight countries who accepted to take them in, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

The prime minister added in a tweet that “responsibility sharing and returns are possible and can be done in a humane and effective manner.”

The number of migrants ‘shared’ has not been officially released, with a government spokesperson indicating that it was the the contribution of each participating country that really mattered.

In a statement, the government said that the first group of migrants to be relocated had left the island for France yesterday morning through the ad hoc solidarity procedures adopted to prevent the situation from spiralling into a serious humanitarian crisis.

The migrants were assessed by the French immigration authorities before arrangements were made for their departure to Paris. During their short stay in Malta, the migrants received all the necessary care from the Maltese authorities, according to the statement.

Commenting after the migrants’ departure yesterday morning, the French ambassador to Malta, Beatrice Le Frapper Du Hellen, said that this was an exemplary show of leadership from Prime Minister Muscat and French President Emmanuel Macron, who had managed, she said, to find a humane solution.

“This is the kind of solution we have to find in Europe, through solidarity and burden-sharing. But it is also about giving migrants adequate care and attention as human beings, which they received while in Malta.”

Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway have also pledged solidarity with Malta and are expected to take in some of the migrants.

This process was ongoing and more migrants would be leaving Malta in the coming days, the government said.

Last week, the Lifeline’s 234 migrants were brought to harbour after Malta brokered a nine-nation deal.

The prime minister’s tweet includes a photograph of the migrants boarding an Air Malta aircraft. All the migrants were seen at the airport yesterday morning wearing orange Tshirts and carrying red backpacks with supplies.

The migrants spent six days stranded off the coast of Malta as several countries struggled to come to terms with their situation. Muscat then led an initiative which saw eight other nations agree to what was described as an ad-hoc agreement allowing the Lifeline to dock in Malta.