Frontex, the EU’s border control agency, yesterday reported 1,603 having landed in Malta since its Nautilus 3 mission began at the end of May.

According to Frontex, which is to begin reporting arrival statistics on a weekly basis, the category includes persons who have reached the coast of the member state, in which the joint operation takes place, on board boats departing from Africa.

It also includes those who have been intercepted in the member state’s territory as well as those intercepted at sea by assets deployed as part of the joint mission.

The Nautilus 3 mission is aimed at controlling migration flows from North Africa heading toward Malta, Lampedusa and Sicily.

Frontex also reported 6,491 landing on the Italian islands over the same period.

The Hera mission underway in the Atlantic, aimed at tackling migration flows from West Africa to the Canary Islands, has seen 4,289 migrants landing on the Spanish islands and a further 3,263 migrants having been “diverted back or deterred” from Spanish territory. Migrants diverted back, which only applies to the Hera mission, means persons intercepted at sea were either convinced to turn back or were escorted back to the closest shore – Senegal or Mauritania.

Spain has concluded agreements with both Mauritania and Senegal that allow the diverting of would-be immigrants’ boats back to their points of departure from a certain distance of the African coastline. A Mauritanian or Senegalese law enforcement officer is always present on board member states’ assets and is always responsible for the diversion.

Malta has no such agreement with Libya, where the vast majority of migrants landing in Malta depart from.

Migrant arrivals in Malta have, so far this year, increased by some 70 per cent.

A total of 11 member states have been involved in the Nautilus 3 mission, which has a budget of e8 million, Frontex said yesterday.