92 people out of the thousands rescued at sea have reached Malta so far this year, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said on Wednesday
92 out of thousands disembarked in Malta since New Year’s
Those brought to Malta included 75 Bangladeshis, 11 Egyptians, 5 Sudanese, and one person whose nationality has yet to be determined.
Answering a parliamentary question by PN MP Albert Buttigieg, Camilleri said the people disembarked in Malta following five rescues coordinated by the AFM between 3 February and 18 April.
“As soon as the asylum procedure has been completed, we will immediately start returning the persons not deserving protection to their country of origin”, Camilleri added.
Request for migrant arrivals data ‘curiosity’
Earlier this week, the Times of Malta reported that its request for data about migrant rescues in Maltese waters between 2018 and 2022 had been dismissed as “curiosity”.
The newspaper had filed a freedom of information request to the Armed Forces Malta, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Office of the Prime Minister.
A review of the authorities’ refusal to provide information by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner, requested by the Times, has yet to be decided.
