Libyans largest group of asylum seekers granted protection in Malta

Libyans remained the largest group of asylum seekers granted some form of protection by Malta last year, figures out today show.

The 315 Libyan asylum seekers granted protection by Malta, made up 39% of all those granted protection status in 2017, according to Eurostat, the European statistics agency.

The second largest group (29%) was from Syria, with 240 being granted protection, followed by Eritreans that made up 12% of all those receiving protection last year.

Eurostat said Malta registered 815 positive applications, the fifth highest in the EU on a per capita basis.

Of these, 610 were granted subsidiary protection, while 190 obtained refugee status. There were 10 individuals who received protection on the basis of subsidiary protection.

Malta also managed to resettle 15 refugees in other countries.

Eurostat said 538,000 asylum seekers were granted protection status in 2017 across the EU. This represents a drop of 25% on the previous year.

Syrians remained the largest group of people granted protection status, accounting for a third of all positive asylum decisions. The next largest group came from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Germany was the country with highest per capita number of people granted protection.