Today, a group of migrants who were disembarked by the Armed Forces of Malta from the NGO vessel Ocean Viking on the 23rd of August, departed for France, the government said in a statement.
This relocation is a result of an ad-hoc agreement between the European Commission, Malta and other member states, mainly France and Germany.
Since all the 356 persons on board of the Ocean Viking, were intercepted and rescued in various operations, which did not take place within the Maltese area of competence or under the direction of the Maltese authorities, all the migrants of the Ocean Viking will be relocated to six other member states as agreed. No migrants will remain in Malta, the government said.
The migrants were assisted by the local authorities, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) authorities, and by officials from the Embassy of France in Malta.