460 non-EU citizens were refused entry by Malta last year, data issued by the European Union’s statistics office shows, the highest in almost a decade.

According to Eurostat, refusals by the EU as a whole increased by some 13 per cent last year, with Spain refusing the greatest number of people.

Eurostat said that information on why entry to Malta was refused was not available to it. At EU level, the majority were refused entry because they did not have valid travel documents.

The majority of the nationals were refused entry at Malta’s air border, the figures show.

The majority were refused entry because they did not have valid travel documents

The entry into Malta made headlines in recent weeks as EU countries struggled with migration issues that have resulted in standoffs between Malta and Italy and problems among other traditional allies.

Malta has since closed its ports to ships carrying migrants and operated by NGOs, with the measure to remain in place pending reviews and current investigations that involve the captain of one such vessels that was allowed to dock in Malta with 233 migrants on board.

The vessel was stuck at sea for almost a week after Italy closed its ports to NGO rescue vessels and was only allowed to dock in Malta after eight other countries agreed to take some of the migrants.

Eurostat figures also showed that there were 470 nationals who were ordered to leave last year, up from 415 in the previous year.

A further 530 nationals were in Malta illegally, the office said, while there were also 475 third-country nationals who were ordered to leave the island.