[WATCH] France fulfilling pledge to take on Ocean Viking migrants, Joseph Muscat says

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had previously said that Malta would be part of the solution, ending the Ocean Viking stalemate, which had 356 persons on board

5 September 2019, 1:02pm
by David Hudson

1 min read

Photo shared on Twitter by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, saying that France was fulfilling its end of the bargain in taking on migrants rescued from Ocean Viking

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A group of migrants are being relocated to France as part of an ad hoc initiative to solve the Ocean Viking standoff, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter.

Muscat shared a picture of a number of migrants boarding a plane and said that France was fulfilling its pledge to take on the migrants that had been stranded on the NGO Vessel Ocean Viking for close to two weeks.

The Ocean Viking had taken on around 356 people in August and had been brought to Malta as part of an EU relocation deal. The ship had been previously stranded between Malta and Lampedusa after the Italian coastguard refused entry to the vessel.

As pledged, #France started fulfilling its pledge in the ad hoc initiative to solve the #OceanViking standoff -JM pic.twitter.com/hFHjOLO2Ef
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) September 5, 2019

It was agreed that the migrants be relocated to France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Romania according to a deal negotiated between the European Commission, France and Germany.

A group has already been relocated to Germany.

David Hudson is an IGM press awards (Investigative stories) winner of 2019