Three Somali families left Malta today to embark on a new life in Ireland.
Staff from the Irish Department of Justice and Equality will be meeting the families (10 people) upon their arrival at Dublin airport.
They will be accommodated in a reception centre with other recently-arrived and resettled refugees and asylum-seekers. They will be relocated to their permanent residence after a short orientation programme.
This latest departure brings the total of beneficiaries of international protection who were relocated to Ireland from Malta since 2007 to 30.
In all 1,753 refugees and beneficiaries of international protection have been relocated or resettled to various developed countries since 2005 – 363 since the beginning of the current year.