A group of 20 migrants left for Portugal on Tuesday after being stranded in Malta for over a month.
Their departure was part of a redistribution agreement reached by Malta with several EU countries after 49 migrants were brought to Malta by two rescue ships, and another 249 were rescued by the AFM in late December and early January.
A group of immigrants saved on 3 separate occasions by @Armed_Forces_MT depart #Malta to be relocated in #Portugal -JM pic.twitter.com/G59J4IoF1K
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) February 26, 2019
Germany, France, Ireland, Romania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal had agreed to the relocation agreement after a standoff which saw the NGO rescue ships Sea Watch and Sea Eye sheltering off Malta in rough seas for 19 days.