Refugee status was last year awarded to 53 persons, involving 34 cases, the commissioner for refugees said.

In a statement issued by the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs, Refugees Commissioner Charles Buttigieg said humanitarian status was granted in another 226 cases involving 328 persons.

Humanitarian protection is given to persons whose application for refugee status is refused, allowing them to stay in the country until they can be safely repatriated or move to another country.

A total of 211 applications for refugee status, involving 225 persons, and not including humanitarian cases, were refused.

Six applications, involving 11 persons, were withdrawn, and 30 applications involving 37 persons were still being examined. These included 18 cases of applicants who did not have documents and who were saying they were unaccompanied minors. Their case was still being examined by the competent authorities to establish if they were really under age. The examination of their application for refugee status could only continue once this process was concluded.

Mr Buttigieg said that a total of 501 applications involving 643 persons were examined in 2003 and 84 cases involving the same number of persons were still to be examined.

Mr Buttigieg said that since January 2002, 75 persons had been recognised as refugees and 439 given humanitarian protection.

Last summer there were 43 cases involving 94 persons from Iraq, who, in view of the circumstances in their country, were given temporary protection according to a recommendation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to all governments.

He said the oldest cases which were still awaiting an interview were in connection with those who arrived in Malta by sea on August 30, 2003.