VALLETTA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Malta saw a decrease of 63.3 percent in the number of people brought to shore while attempting to enter Europe by sea in 2021, according to figures from the National Statistics Office released on Friday.
Figures released on World Refugee Day (June 20) show that Malta had 17 recorded boat landings in 2021, with a total of 838 people brought to shore. The majority of this number (81 percent) were citizens of African countries, while the remaining 19 percent were Asian citizens.
July saw the highest recorded number of persons being brought to shore, at 164, followed by 143 and 134 arrivals in October and December respectively.
As a result of lower numbers of arrivals, the country also saw a 38.9 percent decrease in applications for asylum lodged with the International Protection Agency (IPA). 1,517 applications were filed in Malta, the third highest rate per capita after Cyprus and Austria.
Most of the applicants were African citizens, with the largest proportion being from Sudan, followed by Syrian and Eritrean nationals.
The IPA processed a total of 809 applications in 2021, the NSO reported Of these, 22.2 percent were granted asylum, while the remaining applications were rejected (77.8 percent).
At the end of 2021, there were 4,013 decisions pending on applications for asylum, a decrease of 21.9 percent from the previous year.
Meanwhile, 238 people were relocated from Malta to another EU+ country in 2021, while 10 people were resettled from Malta to a country outside of the EU+ states. A further 40 people benefited from assisted voluntary return programs, and were returned to their country of origin. ■
