During 2022, 10 boat landings were recorded in Malta, with 445 persons being brought to Maltese shores (including persons air lifted at sea), a decrease of 46.9 per cent when compared to 2021. The majority of persons brought to shore were citizens of Asian countries (90.6 per cent), while the remaining 9.4 per cent were citizens of African countries. September saw the highest recorded number of persons being brought to shore, 176 individuals, followed by arrivals in November and August, at 116 and 84 individuals, respectively.
A total of 1,318 applications for international protection (excluding temporary protection) were received by the International Protection Agency during 2022, a decrease of 17.4 per cent over the preceding year.
Slightly over half of the applicants were citizens of African countries (54.5 per cent). When assessing individual countries of citizenship however, 21.2 per cent of the total applicants in 2022 were Syrian. This was followed by Eritrean and Sudanese citizens, at 8.5 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively. Slightly over half of the applicants (56.0 per cent) were males aged between 18 and 34.
Decisions on applications for international protection and appeals
During 2022, the IPA processed a total of 1,271 applications; 15.1 per cent were granted a positive decision at first instance, while the remaining applications were rejected. When compared to the other EU Member States, this ranks Malta second lowest with respect to the share of positive first instance decisions on applications processed in 2022. Estonia had the highest share of positive first decisions at 95.9 per cent with Cyprus having the lowest share of positive decisions at 6.3 per cent.
Of all the applicants granted a form of protection status at first instance during 2022, 45.3 per cent were of Syrian citizenship with a further 40.1 per cent being Eritrean citizens. A total of 852 appeals on first instance decisions were filed with the International Protection Appeals Tribunal in 2022, an increase of 16.7 per cent compared to the previous year. During 2022, the International Protection Appeals Tribunal processed 421 appeals, of which 417 (99.0 per cent) were rejected. Within the EU, Malta had the sixth lowest positivity rate on final instance decisions taken on appeals in 2022. Three countries – Estonia, Luxembourg and Portugal rejected all appeals processed in the reference year while on the other hand Bulgaria accepted all appeals processed. Hungary reported 0 final instance decisions taken on appeals in 2022.
