PARIS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- France will welcome 60 of the 255 migrants rescued at sea recent days as part of a voluntary "solidarity" arrangement between five European countries that vowed to ensure protection of people in need, French President Emmanuel Macron's office Elysee said on Tuesday.
The Elysee said in a statement that a delegation from French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) will fly "in the coming days" to Malta that allowed rescue ship to enter its port after migrants were stranded in the central Mediterranean for days.
The Ofpra's mission consisted in selecting migrants eligible for asylum criteria, it added.
"This solution has been found on ad hoc and voluntary basis, in a spirit of responsibility and solidarity, in line with the European cooperative approach that we have consistently advocated," Macron said.
The president added "the decision was taken again in a context of humanitarian urgency, and demonstrates the importance of a sustainable mechanism to avoid recurring crises."
Meanwhile, he pledged to announce with his European partners, in the coming weeks, proposals to establish "an effective response" to migrants flows "so that everyone takes its responsibilities in terms of rescue, landing and solidarity."
Earlier on Tuesday, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg have agreed to take some of the 141 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya last week.
On board of the Aquarius ship, they have been stranded in the Mediterranean for four days after Italy, Spain and Tunisia refused to let the rescue ship Aquarius reach their ports.
The five EU countries also agreed to share responsibility to protect further 114 migrants rescued by Maltese authorities on Monday.
