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04 August 2019 The 40 migrants who were aboard the ship Alan Kurdi of the German NGO Sea-Eye landed in Malta, after being transferred to a Maltese military ship. The forty migrants, who had been rescued by the NGO off the coast of Libya, landed at the Floriana military base around 11 am (local time). Asylum seekers claim to come mainly from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Togo and Mali.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday announced Malta's willingness, on German request, to disembark migrants, who will all be relocated to other EU countries. In recent days, Italy had denied Alan Kurdi access to Italian ports.

Muscat said on the radio that the decision to allow the landing is "a sign of good will" and working with other nations to save lives is "a matter of common sense". "When we were contacted by the German government, they were aware that it was not our responsibility, but they asked us to come to an agreement. The refugees will not remain in Malta, they will be redistributed, but we feel it is our responsibility to work together" to solve the problem, added Muscat.