Migrants – and a dog – disembark in Malta after long wait at sea

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscatsays his country cares about saving 'all lives'

epa07058899 A man carries a dog by the name of Bella that accompanied the migrants on board the Maltese Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat P52 as they disembarked at the the Armed Forces of Malta base at Hay Wharf, in Floriana, Malta, 30 September 2018. The 58 migrants who were transferred from the de-flagged rescue ship MV Aquarius 2 onto the Maltese patrol boat in international waters have been unable to reach Maltese waters for four days due to bad weather in the Mediterranean.  EPA/DOMENIC AQUILINA
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A military ship brought 58 migrants – and a dog – to Malta on Sunday, where they disembarked after spending several days waiting for seas to calm so they could be transferred from the charity rescue ship Aquarius.

The migrants were rescued from two small boats off the coast of Libya at least a week ago. They include Libyans, Syrians, Palestinians, Somalis and Pakistanis. Among them are seven families and three children under five years of age.

The Aquarius spent five days off the coast of Malta waiting for the weather to improve so it could transfer the migrants to a Maltese cutter.

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Panama withdrew the Aquarius' registration amid the rescue operations, which means the ship will not legally be allowed to sail once it comes to shore until it sorts out its flag status.

The Aquarius was the last charity rescue ship operating off of Libya. Last year there were five groups running rescue ships.

Among the migrants was a small, white dog, who was rescued along with her Libyan family. She was brought ashore in a carrier box and will be quarantined and examined.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said, referring to the dog, that his country cared about saving "all lives".

France, Portugal, Spain and Germany struck a deal on Tuesday to take in the migrants who disembarked in Malta after Italy refused to let the vessel dock.

A family is assisted as it disembarks from a Maltese naval vessel in the port of La Valletta in Malta after being transferred from a humanitarian ship which rescued them at sea over a week ago, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018. The Maltese government said Sunday that the migrants would be then transferred in the coming days to the four countries agreeing to accept them: France, Germany, Spain and Portugal.  (AP Photo/Jonathan Borg)
A family disembarks in Malta after being transferred from a humanitarian ship which rescued them at sea more than a week ago, on September 30, 2018. AP

Up to 650,000 people have reached Italian shores from North Africa since 2014, and Rome's populist government, which took office in June, has started to take a rigidly anti-immigration line, saying it will not let any more rescue ships dock unless other EU states agree to take the people in.

"The Government of Malta has participated in this effort on purely humanitarian grounds," a Maltese government statement said. "The MV Aquarius has been deflagged and is expected to proceed to a port in France to rectify its stateless position."

The United Nations' refugee agency on Sunday thanked the countries involved in resolving the latest of several stand-offs involving rescue ships and EU countries, all of which have arisen from Italy's closure of its ports.

"We are talking about people's lives. Refugees and migrants cannot be continually put at risk while states argue over their responsibilities," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.