Malta deported a “record” number of migrants last year, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri has stated.

“Last year, we deported a record number of people who didn’t have a right for asylum,” Camilleri said on ONE TV yesterday. “Our politics is clear; we are fair with those with genuine requests for asylum but hard on abusers.”

Besides a rise in decorations, the minister said that irregular migrant arrivals dropped significantly, citing talks between the Maltese and Libyan governments that started back in May 2020.  

Camilleri didn’t provide numbers on either count and Lovin Malta has requested this data from the Home Affairs Ministry. 

He expressed his satisfaction that the topic of irregular migration, and home affairs in general, barely cropped up during the recent election campaign “because when it’s mentioned, it doesn’t tend to be for positive reasons”. 

In 2020, Malta and Libya agreed to set up centres in Valletta and Tripoli to coordinate against irregular migration, with former prison director Alex Dalli part of these efforts. 

However, concerns have been raised internationally about sending migrants back to Libya, including by Pope Francis, who is set to visit Malta this weekend. 

Last October, the Pope warned that many migrants in Libya suffer inhumane and violent conditions similar to those experienced in concentration camps.

He is expected to focus on migration during his trip to Malta and will visit migrants housed at the Ħal Far Peace Lab.