Malta Will Take In 44 Migrants, Including Three Children, Rescued By NGO Vessel
Malta will take in 44 migrants that were rescued by an NGO-operated vessel from a wooden boat yesterday evening.
A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of Malta confirmed that the migrants will be transferred from the Alan Kurdi vessel, operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye, and brought in to Malta later this afternoon.
Unsere Crew an Bord der #AlanKurdi hat am Abend 44 Menschen gerettet, darunter vier Frauen und drei Kinder.
Die Menschen gaben an, schon seit Samstag unterwegs zu sein. Auf See sei Ihnen dann der Treibstoff ausgegangen. pic.twitter.com/YJREuoWGtf
— Sea-Eye (@seaeyeorg) July 8, 2019
Sea-Eye said that the 44 people, who come from Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Guinea, has been out at sea since Saturday and were starting to run out of fuel. They include four women and three children, the youngest of which is 15 months old.
⭕️BREAKING:
The #AlanKurdi has rescued 44 persons from a wooden boat in cooperation with Maltese authorities.
A ship of the Maltese Navy is now on its way to take the people from the #AlanKurdi and bring them to Land. pic.twitter.com/fJhjdQsMcs— Sea-Eye (@seaeyeorg) July 8, 2019
The Alan Kurdi was last in Malta two days ago, when 65 migrants entered the ports after the government said it had reached an agreement with EU member states to immediately relocate them. However, unlike in previous relocation deals, the government didn’t specify which EU member states had agreed to take in the migrants. Questions sent by Lovin Malta in this regard remain unanswered as of the time of writing.
Malta has become a more popular location for migrant-rescue NGO vessels since Italy passed a law last month which imposes fines of up to €50,000 for ships that sail to Italian ports without permission.