Close to 6,000 irregular migrants landed in Malta over the last two years, with the first two months of 2020 resulting in almost a thousand arrivals.

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri tabled these figures on Monday in reply to a parliamentary question submitted by opposition MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

It transpires that in 2018, the number of irregular migrants which reached Malta by sea totalled 1,445.

The amount marked a significant increase over previous years when arrivals had gone down significantly. However, the upward trend continued last year in which the respective figure over the previous year doubled and reached 3,405.

As for the first two months of this year, the increase is even more pronounced as to date, arrivals have already reached 989, which is two thirds the entire amount for 2018.

From a separate reply, the home affairs minister said that the migrant population at the open centres is currently 3,465. 

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