175 irregular immigrants were returned or relocated during the first nine months of 2024, the Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The Ministry said that the relocation of 16 immigrants has recently taken place. It detailed that while 115 irregular immigrants were returned to their country of origin, the remaining 60 were relocated to other countries within the European Union.

It said that the government's efforts against irregular immigration are translating into positive results and that the 175 irregular immigrants returned or relocated so far this year surpasses the 103 who have entered Malta in that same period.

The relocation work, it continued, is carried out through the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism by the Ministry for Home Affairs in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration and the European Union Agency for Asylum. It added that this work joins a series of relocations made by the government in recent years.

The Ministry commented that relocation is the most efficient way for how the European Union and its member states can reduce the challenges that come with irregular immigration, particularly for border countries such as Malta. It added that while immigrants who deserve protection are helped and provided all their rights according to the law, those immigrants who are living in Malta irregularly are relocated or returned to their country of origin.

It concluded that the work of the Immigration Police, the Detention Services Agency, and other departments within the Ministry for Home Affairs will continue to be strengthened in the operation of a "fair immigration policy". It added that the relocation work is co-financed by the European Union under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.