Valetta, Jan 1 (IANS/AKI) Maltese armed forces said they had successfully saved 180 migrants from two boats off the coast of Malta.
A total of 28 migrants were plucked from a dinghy 71 nautical miles southwest of Malta, while a further 152 were picked up from a wooden boat southeast of the Mediterranean island, the Navy said on Monday.
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Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency UNHCR and two German NGOs, Sea Watch and Sea Eye, called on European states to take in a group of 49 migrants who have been stuck at sea for days after they were stranded in the Mediterranean. The migrants include women and children.
In a statement, UNHCR said governments need to agree on a system in 2019 that gives rescue ship captains "clarity and predictability" on where migrants can disembark.
Italy is among southern European countries that have closed their ports to migrants amid a clampdown on NGO rescue boats, sparking standoffs that have left hundreds of migrants stranded at sea for days as EU states clashed over who should take in the migrants.
--IANS/AKI
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