VALLETTA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Malta saw a 16 percent increase in the number of applications for international protection between 2017 and 2018, according to the latest figures published by the country's National Statistics Office (NSO).
In 2018, Malta's Office of the Refugee Commissioner processed 2,131 such applications, up from 1,839 the year before.
There were 16 boat arrivals, together bringing 1,445 persons. By comparison, the previous year saw only 20 people arriving, all of whom were airlifted or rescued at sea. There were no boat landings.
Over 23 nations were represented among migrants arriving in Malta, with immigrants from Sudan (399) making up the vast majority, followed by those from Bangladesh (243) and Eritrea (209).
African immigrants made up 80.1 percent of 2018 arrivals. The rest were from Asian countries.
Altogether 79 third-country nationals were resettled to another country, 54.3 percent fewer than the previous year.
Malta had the third highest applications per inhabitant, after Cyprus and Greece.
