The 356 migrants aboard the French
NGO ship Ocean Viking will be shared among six European Union
countries, Malta said Friday.
France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Romania will take
them in, said Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Twitter.
Malta will òut them onto navy ships in international waters
and bring them to Malta, after which they will be redistributed,
he said.
"Not one will remain in Malta", he said.
The accord was reached after talks with the European
Commission and member States including France and Germany,
Muscat said.
The migrants aboard Ocean Viking, at sea for two weeks, have
only five days of food supplies left, Doctors Without Borders
(MSF) said earlier Friday.
Of the 356 migrants, 103 are children, it said.
"Still no safe port has been assigned", MSF said.
"We are concerned about the rapid worsening of the state of
mental health of the persons on board".
The ship has been barred from docking in Italian ports under
outgoing interior minister and anti-migrant League leader Matteo
Salvini's policy of closing Italian ports to migrant rescue NGO
run ships.
Italy's prison inmates watchdog launched an appeal to his
colleagues in Norway and Malta, saying "joint work is needed".
Meanwhile in Sicily smaller 'ghost landings' of migrants are
continuing.
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