Migrants relocated to Germany, fifth group since September

A group of migrants have been relocated to Germany, the government announced Wednesday,

The group left Malta, earlier on Wednesday. This was the fifth group to be relocated since September.

The transfer was carried out after all the necessary preparations were carried out by the National Security Ministry, the French embassy in Malta and the International Organisation for Migration.

The government said that related migrants will have their asylum claim determined in other member states.

The relocation exercise was coordinated with the European Commission in line with Malta’s calls for the fair sharing of responsibility of irregular migrants reaching Europe’s shores.

Relocations reduce the pressure on migrant reception facilities, as well as asylum backlog, they said.

“Relocation is one of the pillars of the government’s strategy on irregular migration,” the government said.

The Police Immigration Section, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) were involved in the relocation. 

The relocation project is co-financed by EU emergency assistance under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).