Forty-four people rescued by a charity vessel at sea on Sunday were brought to Malta on Tuesday morning.

The group was transferred from the Open Arms to an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat in the early hours of the morning and disembarked at Hay Wharf at around 10am, a spokeswoman said.

Video of the transfer at sea was shared by Proactiva Open Arms founder Oscar Camps on Twitter. 

In an earlier tweet, Mr Camps accused Malta's Armed Forces of encouraging people to be left adrift at sea.

"We came across this precariously overcrowded boat 59 miles off Malta. Malta's coast guard told us 'let them be, let them sail on'. That is how the poor souls who wanted to reach Lampedusa drowned a few hours later," he wrote. 

Malta has argued in the past that in terms of international law, boats which are not in distress have a right of passage and cannot be interfered with.

Mr Camps was the first to report that the group was to be transferred to Malta, writing on Monday evening that Malta had agreed to take in the migrants after Italy refused to do so.

The AFM was unavailable to confirm or deny that report at the time.

EU context

The transfer comes just as home affairs ministers from all EU member states are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss a draft proposal concluded last month for a formalised system for the rescue and relocation of migrants saved at sea.

Malta, Italy, France and Germany have all agreed to the draft deal, which must however win the approval of other member states if it is to come into force.

Several countries, however, have voiced opposition, notably Poland and Hungary.