A group of 44 migrants who were rescued from a dinghy on Saturday night, were brought to Malta on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Armed Forces of Malta said that the migrants were picked up by a rescue ship operated by the NGO Open Arms and later transferred to a Maltese patrol boat.
Open Arms said that among the rescued migrants were 13 minors and two women, one of whom is pregnant.
Open Arms later said that Malta had been assigned as the nearest safe port in less than 24 hours.