Ten refugees left for Ireland yesterday as a result of an agreement between the Republic of Ireland and Malta in response to a call made to European Union member states to show solidarity with Malta in the area of immigration and asylum.

Ireland joins another three EU member states which have in practice applied the principle of burden-sharing and accepted responsibility for refugees from Malta. The growing awareness of Malta’s particular circumstances is mainly the result of an ongoing coordinated campaign, by the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, within the EU and in international fora, to highlight the fact that Malta cannot be expected to carry such a considerable burden by itself.

The transfer was made possible with the cooperation of the various Maltese government agencies involved in this field under the lead of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry and the Irish Reception and Integration Agency (RIA). This initiative has been the result of successful talks and ongoing collaboration between the two sides, whereby Ireland has undertaken to carry out selection of the ten refugees and to cover the costs of the transfer.

The ministry acknowledged the support given to the initiative particularly by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Emigrants Commission and the International Organisation for Migration, the Department of Information said yesterday.