The total number of applications for international protection in Malta have decreased for a fifth consecutive year and have reached the lowest mark for a full year since 2010.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) published in its annual Asylum Report last week that just 439 applications for international protection were lodged in Malta in 2024.
This marked a 40% decrease from the previous year, 2023 - 729 asylum applications were lodged the prior calendar year.
International protection within the European Union relates to the granting of either refugee status or subsidiary protection to a third-country national or a stateless person. On arrival into the shores of any EU country, irregular migrants may apply for international protection so that they can stay in the EU for their own safety. Those identified without international protection may be returned to their country of origin.
The EUAA's 2025 Asylum Report noted that in 2024, Malta was vocal at European level on the importance behind effective border management, impeding irregular journeys, and strengthening strategic cooperation with third countries; the latter point emphasised on fighting smuggling networks and in facilitating returns.
It added that collaborative efforts with Libya continued in relation to law enforcement and sea rescues. These efforts are aimed to combat organised crime in the Mediterranean Sea, including human trafficking, it said.
The report made reference to the vocal concerns that were lodged by civil society organisations towards Maltese detention and search and rescue matters throughout 2024.
The EUAA report described that several UN Human Rights Treaty bodies "identified and shared key areas for improvement" with Maltese authorities. These UN bodies informed Maltese authorities to improve on preventing arbitrary detention, to adhere to the prohibition of refoulement, and by virtue, better enshrine the principle of non-refoulement, facilitate "prompt search and rescue activities," ensure safe and rapid disembarkations, and improve in supporting humanitarian rescue missions.
The principle of non-refoulement, which is enshrined by international and EU law, dictates that EU Member States must not return refugees or any individual facing serious threats or persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, back in their home country.
The Maltese government rebutted allegations of possible violations of asylum law, according to the EUAA Report. While affirming its commitment to international obligations, the government stated that over the past two decades, it "has hosted a significant community of refugees and beneficiaries of international protection when compared to the size of the population," and that it has rescued "thousands of lives" in the past 10 years.
Malta reaching a 15-year low in applications for international protection coincides with the significantly reduced number of irregular migrants entering Maltese shores, year after year. In 2024, just 238 irregular migrants entered Malta by sea. In comparison, 3,405 irregular migrants entered in Malta in just 2019, followed by another 2,281 in 2020.
The total number of asylum applications, pending cases, first instance decisions, subsidiary protection status granted, and negative decisions have all decreased by at least 39% from 2023 to 2024, as Maltese authorities continue working to reduce these backlogs.
With conflicts emerging and prolonging around the world, the granting of refugee status in Malta increased by 178% from 2023 to 2024. Partially due to small sample size, 50 people were recognised as refugees in 2024, in comparison to just 18 the year prior. Most new refugees derived from Palestine (18%), followed by Syria (16%), and Iran (14%).