A boat with migrants on-board, including women and children, that had been lost in Maltese waters after escaping from Libya has been found.
Originally, the boat was thought to have 17 people on-board, but the number turned out to be 18.
A Tweet by Médecins Sans Frontières - Sea on Tuesday read that the 18 people, including two young children, are now safe. "After almost three days without drinking, the survivors are dehydrated. They are currently being cared for by our team on board of the GeoBarents."
Malta has often been accused of ignoring distress calls by migrant boats and the NGOs which rescue them.
In a report published by the European Council for Refugees and Exiles, they said that Malta has a low number of rescues due to Malta's national policies.
"Since May 2020, and throughout 2021, the Armed Forces of Malta drastically decreased rescues at sea. In 2021, the Maltese Government continued to deny disembarkation to individuals rescued at sea, in particular where the rescue was conducted by NGO vessels," the report said.