Malta wants discussions on relocation of stranded migrants concluded in ‘coming hours’

Malta will be granting any assistance to the Sea-Watch 3 and Prof Albrecht Penck in the case of any emergency, as it is bound to do by law, the government said on Tuesday, adding that it wanted to see conclusions on a relocation agreement concluded in the coming hours.

The two vessels remain stranded off the coast of Malta carrying a total of 49 rescued migrants. 32 migrants were rescued by the Sea-Watch 3 on 22 December, with the remaining 17 migrants having been rescued a week later by the Prof Albrecht Penck.

The government said in a statement that discussions on an ad hoc relocation agreement were ongoing and that the Maltese government wanted to see them concluded “in the coming hours”

“Malta is once again being called to take upon itself responsibilities which are beyond its remit when it comes to showing European solidarity in practice,” the government said in a statement.

It reiterated that Malta had no legal competence in the migrants’ rescue, adding that NGO vessels had intercepted the migrants in the Libyan SRR, closer to Libya, Tunisia, and Italy.

“The NGOs were denied entry in other European and non-European safe ports and proceeded to loiter in Maltese territorial waters,” read the statement.

The government noted that while “these cases were happening”, Malta had rescued a further 249 migrants, “fulfilling all its obligations as it has always done”.

“Now Malta, the smallest European Union member state, is being called upon to disembark migrants on these NGO boats. Similar cases happened a few months ago with Malta taking an active role in providing effective solidarity,” the government said.

“In this context, Malta believes that the discussion on ad hoc relocation should not be limited to the persons on board the two NGO vessels, but should be extended to a portion of the persons who have been rescued and are already in Malta, as a sign of goodwill.”

Finally, the government stressed that a long-term European solution for dealing with similar issues in the future should be a priority in order to avoid a repetition of the current state of affairs, which it said placed more of a burden on a member state like Malta.

READ ALSO: Migrants stranded on NGO ships are being driven to despair, Sea Watch says