Last year, 27 boats arrived in Malta carrying 1,890 irregular immigrants, the second highest number in a decade.
The figures from the National Statistics Office released today, show that an increase of 19.7 per cent was recorded in the number of irregular immigrants arriving by boat in 2012 when compared to the previous year. Nearly a third arrived during May. Almost all visitors were of African origin. Somali nationals made up 65.2 per cent of these asylum seekers, while a quarter were Eritreans.
During the year under review, the Office of the Refugee Commissioner filed 2,080 new applications for international protection – an increase of 10.0 per cent over the previous year.
More than half these applicants were males aged between 18 and 34. The majority of these applicants, 90.5 per cent, were Africans, of whom 66.3 per cent were Somalis and 23.1 per cent Eritreans. Another 9.1 per cent originated from Asia, predominantly from Syria (80.4 per cent).
During 2012, the Office of the Refugee Commissioner processed 1,590 applications: 90.1 per cent were granted a positive decision, while the remaining applications were rejected. The largest share of applicants who were granted asylum during the year under review were of African origin.
An increase of 35.6 per cent was registered in the resident population of Open Centres and other institutional households. The majority, or 75.1 per cent, of the persons residing in Open Centres were residing in Hal Far while a further 18.0 per cent were residing in Marsa. Nearly three-quarters of all residents were males while more than half were Somalis.
During 2012, 2,256 persons were found to be present illegally in Malta – an increase of 30.6 per cent over the previous year. The majority, or 91.1 per cent, were Africans, while a further 5.5 per cent were Asians (mainly of Syrian and Pakistani nationality).
Three-quarters of these migrants were between 18 and 34 years old. Of the persons who were found to be illegally present in Malta, 568 persons were returned to their country of origin, of whom 71.0 per cent returned to African countries, predominantly Libya.
During 2012, 195 persons were refused entry at the Maltese air border. In nearly 27.2 per cent of the cases, these persons were stopped because their purpose and conditions of stay were not justi? ed. Another 25.6 per cent had no suf? cient means of subsistence and 22.1 per cent had no valid visa or residence permit.
Last year, 420 third-country nationals resettled in another country – an increase of 76 persons over 2011. Another 39 persons bene? tted from assisted voluntary return programmes.