The number of migrants being admitted to Mount Carmel hospital for mental health treatment has doubled in the last two years.

As of last month, 105 migrants received treatment at the mental health hospital, compared with 53 in 2017.

The figures came to light through a parliamentary question asked by Nationalist MP Mario Galea.

The number stood at 79 last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said the majority of people who sought treatment at the hospital had done so for a host of conditions, including attempted suicide and major depressive disorders.

Other admissions were for acute stress, adjustment disorders and delirium due to physiological conditions. 

No further information was given on the patients. 

Relations in the migrant community have been tense, as several protests and a prolonged, destructive riot last month shone a spotlight on the living conditions at the Safi detention camp as well as the Ħal Far open center.

A previous report by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles expressed concerns about poor hygiene, severe overcrowding, as well as rat and cockroach infestations at that made life “extremely challenging” at the open center.

The report also found that the location of the centres in remote areas of Malta left migrants isolated from the greater community.

Following the October 20 riot, asylum seekers as young as 14 were left without food for days.

In September, distressed migrants stranded on a rescue vessel for several days showed increasing signs of mental instability and had to be restrained after they attempted to jump overboard and swim to land.