Ireland agrees to take 25 Refugees From Stranded Lifeline Ship

The Irish government has agreed that Ireland will take in refuge up to 25 migrants who are currently on a boat stranded 30 kilometers off the coast of Malta.

The Lifeline had 234 migrants on board and was denied permission to dock in some countries.

After several countries, including Ireland, agreed to accommodate refugees, the Maltese government has agreed to allow the boat to dock.

The Taoiseach and Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan had contacted the Tánaiste who was in Luxembourg, and the latter contacted his Maltese counterpart.

An agreement has been reached with Malta that Ireland will become one of several EU countries to take in the migrants, once the lifeline ship docks at the Malta terminal. The ship is expected to stop in Malta within the next 48 hours.

After picking up the migrants in distress off the Libyan coast last week, the Lifeline has been stranded for days in the Mediterranean without a port to dock.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France will become one of the six European Union countries to take in 233 migrants aboard the NGO boat. The French president criticized the German NGO Mission Lifeline, said that it had defied “all the rules” by coming to the migrants’ rescue when the Libyan coastguard was already intervening. “We cannot permanently accept this situation, in the end we are playing into the hands of smugglers by reducing the risks of the journey”, he said.