Asleep in a wooden cot, her tiny fingers curled into a fist, one-year-old Blessing is oblivious to the chatter of other children in the next room.

The soft wind coming in from the open door blows through her tight curls and Blessing's arms flinch, but she remains sound asleep.

Blessing is one of the two infants saved from a sinking boat last Tuesday. Both her parents and her brother are thought to have drowned as they crossed from Africa in search of a better life in Europe.

The Justice and Home Affairs Ministry is currently working to issue an interim care order for Blessing, Alex Tortell, operations director within the ministry, told The Times. Work is also underway within the Emigrants Commission to confirm the identity of Blessing, who is thought to hail from Cameroon. The Commission's head, Mgr. Philip Calleja, said it was imperative to establish whether the girl - who turned one yesterday - had any living relatives.

A woman travelling on the same boat, who was also airlifted to Malta together with her two-month-old daughter, is claiming to be Blessing's aunt. But the authorities are not taking any risks and want to establish the facts before deciding on the way forward.

"It is still too early to say what will happen to her," Mr Tortell said. Asked whether the child would be put up for adoption, he pointed out that this had not yet even been discussed.

"The important thing at the moment is to do what is in the best interest of the child," he said, adding that the first thing that the authorities did was to find a safe place for the toddler.

Although over the past few years a number of unaccompanied minors have arrived in Malta, Blessing is thought to be the youngest, Mr Tortell said.

Sister Stefania Caruana, who takes care of children at the Ursuline Sisters Crèche, also said that this case is unprecedented. "Mgr. Calleja phoned with tears in his eyes and a broken heart to ask whether we could keep her," she said, her eyes welling over.

Despite her obvious ordeal, the infant is already getting used to her new surroundings. "On the first night she cried a little until she fell asleep, but everyone is fussing over her and she is getting used to us. Today she was playing in the garden and she is eating and sleeping without any problems," Sister Caruana said.

As the sisters prepared to celebrate Blessing's first birthday, Sister Caruana admitted that their hearts go out to her because she is alone in the world. Although the Sliema home is currently taking care of more than 20 children of immigrants and refugees - among the 48 children in its care - Blessing is the only one whose parents are not in Malta. Sister Caruana pointed out that sometimes parents need to go out to work and have to find a place where their children are cared for.

"They bring them here on Monday and take them home for the weekend because it is very important that the bond between the children and parents remains strong."

But Blessing does not have that option. Her case resembles that of Mohammad Mougdin, the Somali teenager who saw his mother and five siblings drown before his very eyes in one of the tragedies of the Mediterranean two years ago.

Last month the 17-year-old was reunited with his grandfather - thought to be his only living relative - who lives in Seattle as part of a US programme to resettle refugees in different cities in America.

When asked whether it was the sisters who named the young girl Blessing, because of her rescue, Sister Caruana said it was not, but they were told that was the child's name.

"And it is a real blessing that she was saved," she said.