The refugees, who are originally from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somali, are departing thanks to the European Union Relocation Project for Malta, better known as EUREMA.

The group of refugees that left today consisted of three single adults and two families. They form part of a group of 31 persons who will be moving to Norway in the coming weeks. Today’s departure follows that of two other groups that took place in January and February of this year.

Other European countries have committed themselves to relocating beneficiaries of international protection from Malta through the EUREMA pilot project. These countries include Bulgiaria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Minister for Home and Parliamentary Affairs Carm Mifsud Bonnici noted that Malta has an average of 2,500 residents in open centres. 98% of illegal immigrants that come to Malta apply for refugee status.

360 persons who were granted asylum in Malta are being relocated to other EU states and a further 227 persons have already been relocated since 2010 when the EUREMA project was launched.

Dr Robert Visser, executive director of the European Asylum Support Office accompanied Minister Mifsud Bonnici to the Malta International Airport and commented that this is “a good example of EU solidarity in action.”

Source:DI-VE