To mark World Refugee Day, 20 June, the Maltese National Statistics Office released statistics for 2008 regarding the numbers of boats and migrants reaching shore and related asylum application data.
Of the 2608 new asylum applications reportedly filed in 2008, the top five applicant nationalities were Somali (41%), Ivory Coast (10%), Nigeria (9%), Mali (8%) and Eritrea (7%).
NATIONAL STATISTIC OFFICE – MALTA
News Release 19 June 2009 | 1100 hrs | 109/2009
“2,775 irregular immigrants reached Maltese shores in 2008. New
applications for asylum numbered 2,608.
“World Refugee Day: 2008
“Since 2001, World Refugee Day has been celebrated internationally every 20 June. To mark this occasion, NSO is releasing a set of statistics which document the local scene.
“During 2008, 84 boats carrying 2,775 irregular immigrants reached Maltese shores. When compared to the previous year, the number of boats increased by 24 per cent, translating into 1,073 more irregular immigrants (see Table 1).
“The increase in recorded arrivals is reflected in the higher number of new applications for asylum filed with the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees, which almost doubled. These amounted to 2,608 (see Table 2). The absolute majority of applicants were from Africans (see Table 3).
” In 2008, 2,697 asylum decisions were taken by the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees (see Table 4). Of these, 19 applicants were granted refugee status, 1,397 obtained subsidiary or other forms of protection, while 1,281 applications were rejected. More than 80 per cent of these positive decisions were granted to males, while 89 were taken in respect of children under 18 (see Table 5).
“In December 2008, 1,625 persons were residing in Open Centres. A further 270 were living in other institutional households. Of the population in Open Centres, 7 per cent were minors (see Tables 6 and 7). [***]
“Issued by: Information Services Unit, National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000, Malta. T. +356 2599 7219 F. +356 2599 7205 E. library.nso@gov.mt”
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MIGRANTS AT SEA 