The Ministry of Home Affairs said this afternoon that the vast majority of the 262 migrants who landed at Marsaxlokk this morning came from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh and were therefore not eligible for humanitarian protection and could not stay in Malta.
Over the past years the government repatriated several persons who came from those countries since they could be easily identified.
Proceedings have already been started for these migrants to be repatriated too, the ministry said.