A German humanitarian group says 40 migrants rescued at sea off the coast of Libya have been successfully transferred to Maltese military boats to be brought to port. Sea-Eye posted photos Sunday on Twitter showing the migrants being handed over to the Maltese military. An earlier video showed the migrants shouting for joy at the news that they would be transferred first to Malta, then to other European Union countries. Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced Saturday on Twitter that the small EU nation would allow the 40 migrants aboard the Alan Kurdi to disembark after a request from Germany. He said the EU commission had organized their transfer to other EU nations. The ship named Alan Kurdi had headed toward Malta after Italy again refused to open its ports to a humanitarian rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
