23 out of the 689 irregular migrants that were saved by the Armed Forces of Malta in 2017 were disembarked in the country, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia has revealed in parliament.

Replying to a parliamentary question by MP Beppe Fenech Adami, Farrugia said that the 689 individuals were saved with the help of Operation Triton, which is managed by Frontex, the European Union's border security agency, along with assistance from the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Rome.

The amount of irregular migrants that Malta receives has been a contentious issue in Italy’s Parliament following the massive drop in arrivals ever since 2013, with the Italian Green Party often alleging that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi entered into a secret agreement whereby Italy would take the bulk of migrants in exchange for oil exploration rights.

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