The Maltese government has decided to allow the Aquarius migrant rescue vessel with reportedly 141 people on board to dock in its ports, Valletta has reached an agreement with several EU states to share the migrants.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2018) The Maltese government has decided to allow the Aquarius migrant rescue vessel with reportedly 141 people on board to dock in its ports, Valletta has reached an agreement with several EU states to share the migrants.
"Malta will be making a concession allowing the vessel to enter its ports, despite having no legal obligation to do so. Malta will serve as a logistical base and all of the reportedly 141 migrants on board will be distributed amongst France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain," the statement read.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for showing initiative in solving the issue.
"I would like to thank #France @EmmanuelMacron for joint initiative on solving #Aquarius issue. We also agreed on way forward on #migration. We do appreciate input of @JunckerEU & @EU_Commission together with @eucopresident and @EU2018AT," Muscat said as quoted in a tweet by the Maltese government.
EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos also commended the parties behind the decision.
"Welcome the decision of Malta to authorise the disembarkation of the #Aquarius. I commend France Spain Germany Portugal and Luxembourg for their solidarity to take a share of the migrants on board. We need sustainable solutions. This is the responsibility of the EU as a whole," Avramopoulos tweeted.
The French presidential office said in a statement earlier on Tuesday that in the coming days the officials from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) would arrive at the scene to take 60 people from Aquarius in need of protection.
Similarly, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said earlier in the day that his country would also accept 60 people, while Portugal agreed to accept 30 migrants from Aquarius and other migrant boats off the coast of Malta, according to the country's Internal Administration Minister Eduardo Cabrita.
This summer, the issue of migrant rescue vessels has been especially urgent, with a number of European states, where migrants fleeing armed conflicts and economic crises in Africa and the middle East are arriving by sea, taking a tough stance on accepting arrivals.
In June, Italy and Malta have already denied entry to the Aquarius that was then carrying over 600 rescued migrants, while Spain eventually allowed the vessel to dock in Valencia. However, both Spain and Italy denied entry to another rescue vessel, the Lifeline, later in June.
According to the International Organization for Migration, Spain currently tops the list of Mediterranean countries by the number of migrant sea arrivals, with over 25,100 migrants arriving in the country since the beginning of the year. Italy follows with a total of 19,231 arrivals.
