Some 32 asylum seekers have been relocated to France and Finland as part of the bloc’s solidarity mechanism, the government said in a vague statement on Saturday.

The Home Affairs Ministry said that the migrants came from “various” countries. It did not state when the relocations occurred.

Instead, the statement noted that 104 people have been relocated to other EU member states this year so far. Others whose asylum applications were rejected were returned to their home countries, the ministry said.

The relocations involved the International Office of Migration and the EU Agency for Asylum. Relocations were co-financed by the EU through its Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said that in the first half of 2023, Malta had returned or relocated as many migrants as it received during that period.

“All this while the government is working to prevent arrivals, including by cooperating with Libya, to reduce the risk of deaths [at sea],” Camilleri said.

He said the strategy was working, with fewer arrivals and more failed asylum seekers being returned to their home countries.

Data published by Times of Malta earlier this week revealed how arrivals of people rescued at sea has dropped significantly in the past years, even as rescues by Maltese authorities at sea remain high.

Authorities spent months battling to prevent that information from being made public.