Malta receives 380 fresh asylum requests, most from Libyans

Malta received 380 first time asylum applications in the second quarter of 2015, 260 (68%) of which were from Libyans.

The country also received 45 asylum applications from Syrians and 20 applications from Ukrainians during this period.

Eurostat figures show that Malta registered the fifth highest rate of first time asylum applications in the EU between April and June, with 883 applicants per million inhabitants – behind only Hungary (3,317), Austria (2,026), Sweden (1,467), and Germany (997).

213,000 first time asylum seekers applied for protection in the EU in these three months, up by 85% compared with the second quarter of 2014. 44,000 of these (21%) were Syrian, while 27,000 (13%) were from Afghanistan, with the two countries accounting for a third of all first time applicants.

Conversely, Kosovars, who were the top citizenship of first time asylum applicants in the first three months of 2015, have seen their number drop from almost 50,000 during the first quarter 2015 to just over 10,000 in the second quarter 2015.

Germany received 80,900 first time asylum applications during these three months – 38% of all EU applications. It was followed by Hungary (32,700 or 15%) and Austria (17,400 or 8%).