Another two groups of migrants were relocated from Malta to France and Germany on Thursday in terms of an agreement with the European Commission, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a tweet.

Their number was not disclosed. 

Several hundred migrants were in Malta over the past few months, having been rescued by NGO rescue vessels and brought here following agreements negotiated by the EU for their eventual distribution to other member states.

Meanwhile, the rescue ship Ocean Viking picked up 90 people from a rubber boat in distress on Thursday. They reported that they left Libya on Tuesday night.

Another rescue ship, the Alan Kurdi, left Taranto for the rescue zone North of Libya on Thursday. 

360 migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking were brought to Malta in August. A further 182 arrived from the same ship in September. 40 were transferred from the Alan Kurdi in August. 

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