VALLETTA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A number of African migrants who were rescued from the sea off Malta last month have been relocated to France.
The migrants, some of whom arrived in Malta on the NGO-operated rescue vessels Sea-Watch 3 and Albrecht Penck in January together with a number of others who had been rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta last December, were flown to France on Thursday morning to begin a new life there.
Last Thursday, two groups of migrants already left for France and Luxembourg.
The relocation processes are the result of an ad hoc agreement struck between the European Commission, Malta and other EU states following the incident involving the Sea-Watch 3 and Albrecht Penck early in January, which saw European Union member states refuse the disembarkation of 49 migrants stranded at sea for three weeks until a relocation agreement was reached.
During their time in Malta, the migrants were assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Maltese authorities and officials from the French Embassy.
