A group of 56 migrants is to be brought to Malta later on Thursday - the third such arrival this week.

The migrants were rescued in Malta's search and rescue zone.

A group of 45 people, including a pregnant woman, was brought in on Wednesday while a group of 95 was brought in on Tuesday after having been rescued by the Italian Coastguard.

The immigration crisis is set to be discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Malta on Monday.

Meanwhile, the NGO rescue ship Ocean Viking has reported that it is carrying more than 100 migrants on board after two rescue operations off Libya and it is seeking a safe harbour. More than 350 migrants were transferred from the ship to Malta last month, and they are set to be distributed among several EU countries.

French President Emanuel Macon on Wednesday told Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that he is working for a standing arrangement under which European Union nations would take a share of rescued migrants.

“I am convinced that we need an automatic European mechanism of taking in the migrants that would permit Malta and Italy (to know) that before they arrive, the migrants are taken on,” Macron told reporters as he was flanked by Conte at the premier’s office in Palazzo Chigi.

“It’s essential for the EU to turn a page in the direction of a structural management and no longer an emergency management of the flows” of migrants, Conte was quoted as saying by AP news agency.