Tomorrow, the 20th of June, marks World Refugee day and the National Statistics Office has released information on irregular immigrants and applications for asylum.

Among EU Member States, Malta ranked fourteenth in asylum applications per million residents. Cyprus recorded the highest number of applications per capita, while Hungary had the lowest.

The data shows that in 2024, excluding temporary protection, the International Protection Agency received 701 first and repeat applications for asylum – this was a decrease of 17.9% over the previous year.

The NSO said that 6 boat landings were recorded in Malta, with 238 individuals arriving on its shores, including those airlifted at sea – representing a 37.4% decrease compared to 2023.

The majority of arrivals were citizens of Asian countries (80.7%), while 19.3% originated from African countries. December saw the highest number of persons brought to shore, with 83 individuals reaching Malta.

The IPA granted protection to 229 applicants, while 298 were rejected, the NSO said.

At the end of 2024, there were 1,497 asylum applications pending a decision, a decrease of 24.4% compared to the previous year.

The NSO noted that 2,221 persons were beneficiaries of temporary protection in Malta at the end of 2024 . At the end of 2024, there were a total of 193 persons residing in open centres, a decrease of 13.1% compared to the previous year.

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