Over 400 third country nationals deported in 2017

A total of 472 third country nationals were deported in 2017 after being found to have been in Malta illegally, according to Home Affairs minister Michael Farrugia.

Farrugia was replying to a parliamentary question by Opposition national security spokesperson Beppe Fenech Adami, who asked the minister for the number of people taken to court last year for being in Malta illegally.

The minister clarified that since 2002, following changes the immigration laws, being in Malta illegally is no longer a crime. The amendment, he said, meant that rather than being charged in court, those in the country without the necessary documentation were simply deported.

He said that during 2017, 190 individuals had been deported because they were in Malta illegally, with a further 282 being sent back home after they were discovered to have been in Malta illegally “when they were leaving the country to other countries outsides the Schengen zone”.