A total of 34 persons who were enjoying humanitarian protection in Malta over the past months have departed for the United States of America over the past two days. This was made possible following a decision taken in 2006 by the American Government to assist Malta on the particular pressures it is facing in asylum claims. The first group of 15 persons left earlier this month with the remainder departing yesterday.

This programme is expected to continue in the coming months. The realisation of this ongoing exercise was made possible through to the collaborative partnership between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and Emigrants’ Commission.

With the support of Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs, the UNHCR has so far been able to refer more than 260 cases to the United States resettlement programme. The IOM took care of the logistical movement of these persons.

It is worth noting that the governments of Holland, Ireland, Lithuania, Germany and Portugal have so far responded by resettling a number of refugees under similar arrangements following an appeal that the Maltese Government had made to European Union Member States for assistance in the area of asylum.

Whilst thanking these fellow member states for their support, the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs said it will continue to impress upon all EU Members States that Malta cannot be expected to shoulder this disproportionate burden alone.

According to UNHCR report Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized countries, during 2003-2007 Malta ranked third in the number of asylum applications received per 1,000 inhabitants.

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