Stranded migrants are allowed to come ashore

The longest impasse over what to do with migrants rescued in the Mediterranean concluded Wednesday with a patchwork solution that is unlikely to settle urgent questions about European migration policy — or to make the next rescue operation any smoother.

Forty-nine migrants had been rescued in late December off the Libyan coast, pulled from flimsy boats by a pair of rescue ships operated by two small German humanitarian groups.

Many European countries once routinely accepted such migrants. But former frontline countries — most prominently Italy — have adopted a harder line against migrants, saying they have shouldered a disproportionate burden.

Denied entry to multiple countries, the two rescue ships waited in the Mediterranean for weeks.

On Wednesday, European powers negotiated an end to the standoff . Malta agreed to allow the migrants onshore, where they’ll eventually be divided among eight countries: Germany, France, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy.

Another 131 migrants that had been rescued earlier by Malta will also be divvied up, according to a statement from Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Muscat said the organizations’ boats would be asked to leave Maltese waters as soon as the migrants disembarked.