VALLETTA: Around 300 illegal immigrants aboard a rickety fishing trawler landed in Malta Sunday, the largest single arrival in more than a year, the Maltese army said.
The migrants tried to disperse and hide after landing in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, but were surrounded by police and soldiers, the army said.
Most of the illegal migrants will be repatriated because they come from countries which are not eligible for humanitarian status and therefore they cannot stay in Malta, the justice and home affairs ministry said in a statement.
The countries included Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In fact procedures have begun immediately to repatriate these illegal immigrants as soon as possible, said the ministry.
The smallest European Union member, this Mediterranean island nation has witnessed a surge of illegal immigrants arriving on its shores in recent years.
Last year, Malta faced a record number of 2,775 arrivals. More than half, or 1,443, were from Somalia.
Also on Sunday, the Italian coastguards said it rescued a boat carrying 226 would-be immigrants that ran into trouble off the coast of Sicily.
In 2008, some 36,900 illegal migrants arrived in Italy, up 75 percent from the year before, the Italian interior ministry has said.
United Nations human rights experts expressed concern in January about Maltese detention conditions of immigrants rescued at sea, but the government rebutted by pointing to the sheer numbers of illegals it was grappling with.
Malta and Italy have joined together with Greece and Cyprus in demanding tougher EU action against illegal immigration. -AFP
