Malta to relocate 284 migrants to EU states

Malta has reached an agreement for the relocation of 284 migrants to other European Union (EU) member states, the government said on Monday.

In a statement, the Maltese government said that the relocation is being coordinated by the European Commission and involves migrants who had been kept on tourist vessels outside Maltese waters for several weeks, reported Xinhua.

"The government has begun the process of relocating the first group of 204 immigrants to other countries. In the case of the other 80 migrants, there is a political commitment between other member states which will be monitored closely by the European Commission," the government said.

The statement didn't reveal which states have committed to taking in the relocated migrants.

Malta closed its ports to asylum-seekers in April due to COVID-19 and told the EU it could not guarantee the resources needed to conduct rescues at sea because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following its decision to close its ports, the government said that it still wanted to live up to its international obligations to rescue people at sea who were in distress.

Since the end of April, the Maltese government rented four vessels to house the migrants rescued at sea.

On June 6, the government allowed 425 migrants who were kept on the vessels to disembark.