Norway has announced it is ready to take some 90 Libyan refugees and asylum seekers from Malta as part of the EU's resettlement pilot project specifically designed to help Malta cope with the burden of asylum seekers reaching the island from the Libyan conflict.

Although Norway is not an EU member state, it has decided to contribute its share as it feels that Malta is too small to cope with the current influx of migration.

Norwegian State Secretary Pal Lonseth made this announcement this morning stating that Malta is a small state which needs help in handling the difficult refugee situation. He did not exclude the possibility that Norway may accept to host even more refugees from North Africa.

The 90 refugees will be selected in consultation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and local authorities.

Just a few weeks ago the European Commission declined to accept Malta's request to trigger an emergency solidarity mechanism obliging member states to share the burden of the Libyan refugees with Malta. At the same time it decided to extend Malta's intra-EU resettlement programme and urged member states to offer their help to the island.

Germany, France, Slovenia, Poland and Hungary were among the EU member states pledging to take some 200 Libyan refugees from Malta.

More than a thousand Libyan citizens fled to Malta since the start of the Libyan conflict.

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