Malta will be taking a number of migrants who are stranded off the Sicilian coast, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening.

In a tweet, Muscat said that he spoke with Italian premier Giuseppe Conte who asked for solidarity on case of boat with 450 migrants who will disembark in Italy. "I confirmed that consistently with our policy, we will participate in a redistribution initiative. Malta not only demands but also offers solidarity, Muscat said.

In an official statement, the government said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pledged to participate in an Italian-led initiative to relocate a number of migrants who are part of 450 who were on board a fishing vessel. 

In a phone call with Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, Muscat reiterated that consistent with its policy of not only advocating but also offering solidarity, Malta would assist in this case, which will disembark in Italy.

This follows the approach taken by Malta to resolve the MV Lifeline issue when 9 countries, including Italy, shared 234 migrants.

The actions of the Maltese Government are without prejudice to the undisputed fact that it acted in conformity with international rules also in this case, the statement said.

Earlier, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte's office said three ideas were being considered: Redistributing the migrants among European countries, contacting Libyan authorities to arrange for their return, or keeping them on board the ships to screen them for asylum. 

Conte said that Malta and France had come forward in response to his request to all 27 other members of the European Union to share the burden of welcoming the migrants.

"It's an important result," Conte wrote on Facebook, along with a copy of the letter he wrote to top European Commission officials demanding that other European countries make good on their verbal pledges to help Italy deal with the influx.

It is the second time in a few weeks that EU countries agreed to distrubute migrants. Late in June, the NGO vessel Lifeline was allowed to dock in Malta with 234 migrants only after Muscat brokered a deal which saw nine countries accept to share the migrants.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has forced migration to the top of Europe's agenda by refusing to let rescue boats dock at Italian ports, vowed to remain firm Saturday as he created yet another standoff.

But Salvini has already been chastened this week after the Italian president intervened in a rescue on humanitarian grounds.

The migrants had been aboard a large fishing boat when the Italian and Maltese coast guard control centers began squabbling Friday over who was responsible for taking them in.

On Friday, Malta said it had fulfilled its obligations by monitoring the vessel to see if it needed help. Malta says the ship's crew made clear they didn't need help and were heading toward the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Salvini and his transport minister insisted Malta should have opened its ports to the ship.

Early Saturday, the migrants were taken off the boat and transferred onto a rescue vessel from the EU border patrol agency Frontex and a ship from the Italian border police. By late Saturday, the two ships were near the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.

In just one month in office, Italy under the hard-line, anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has upended years of Italian policy toward migrants by refusing them entry.

Italy in general feels that the European Union has left it alone to handle the tens of thousands of migrants coming across the sea every year. Salvini is pressing the EU to step up and take in the migrants who land in Italy and is trying to help Libya prevent them from leaving.

 

Aid officials say migrants who are being returned to Libya are at risk of facing abuse, rape, beatings and slavery.

Italy and Malta squabbled Friday over who was responsible for rescuing 450 migrants crowded aboard a fishing boat in the Mediterranean as the vessel, apparently not seeking help, headed toward a tiny island off Sicily.

In a statement Friday, Malta said that the boat was closer to Lampedusa than Maltese shores when Malta was first informed. (see map)