40 people have been arrested for living in Malta illegally after inspections carried out on Friday morning, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Friday. 

The inspections were carried out early on Friday morning by the police together with the detention service and the Environmental Health Directorate in Marsa, Hamrun, and Attard. 

The Ministry said that a number of people of different nationalities were spoken to in the streets, on bus stops, and inside properties. 

In the properties inspected, a number of foreign nationals were found to be living in bad conditions and without permission to be in Malta. 

After police analysed whether the people had the necessary documentation to live in Malta, 40 were arrested for living in the country illegally, and the process for them to be deported was kicked off.

The Ministry said that the authorities are also investigating the owners of the places where these people were living. 

The Ministry said that this operation joins other similar ones which are being consistently done every week in order to send a clear message: “that our communities must embrace the principles of observing the law so that those who live in them always feel safer.” 

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said that in the coming weeks similar operations around the country and in Gozo will continue to be carried out so that the authorities can continue to fight the illegal immigration issue.