A total of 1,475 migrants arrived illegally between January and September this year, while the number of repatriations during the same period reached 319. Repatriations totalled 260 in the whole of last year and 338 in 2007.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said this year's arrivals included 898 Somalis, by far the biggest group. They were followed by 156 from Eritrea.

The minister also said that in the past five years, 89 migrants who had arrived in Malta illegally were subsequently found in other countries of the European Union. Sixteen were sent back to Malta.

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