According to information presented by Maltese Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, 1,451 migrants have reached Malta during the first five months of 2011. There were no arrivals during the first two months of the year. 819 people arrived in March, 288 in April, and 347 in May. Most of the migrants were Somali (411) and Eritrean (280).
In a separate statement, Maltese Refugee Commissioner Mario Guido Friggieri said that a total of 1,530 migrants in seven boats have arrived in Malta to date in 2011. This would suggest that there have been 79 migrant arrivals so far during the month of June.
Friggieri also reported that the Refugee Office has received 600 applications for protection of which 420 have been decided: 5 migrants have been granted refugee status, 370 granted subsidiary protection, 8 granted temporary humanitarian protection status, and 1 was granted “special protection.” 36 applications have been rejected. 91% of the applications for protection decided to date have been approved in some fashion.
As of the end of the month of April, there were 1,048 migrants being detained in detention centres and 2,294 in open centres.
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MIGRANTS AT SEA 