Libyans main citizens granted protection in Malta in 2016

Libyan nationals were the main citizenship to be granted protection status when applying for asylum in Malta in 2016, contrary to the vast majority of EU member states whose main citizenship was Syrians, according to Eurostat data.

In total, Malta accepted asylum applications from 1,255 people in 2016, of which 545 came from Libyan nationals, making up 43%. This was followed by Syrians, who comprised 29% with 360 accepted applications, and Eritreans who made up 8% with 105 accepted applications.

From the total number of successful asylum applicants, 190 were granted refugee status and 1,010 were given subsidiary protection, while 55 were accepted due to humanitarian reasons.

Across the EU, Syrians remained the largest group of beneficiaries of protection status in 2016, with 405,620 persons, or 57% of the total number of persons granted protection status in the EU member states, followed by citizens of Iraq (65,800 or 9%) and those of Afghanistan (61,800 or 9%).

More than  70% (294,700) of Syrians granted protection status in the EU were recorded in Germany.

In total, 445,210 people were granted protection status in Germany – the highest number across the EU. The figure marks a three-fold growth from the numbers of accepted asylum seekers in Germany in 2015. Germany was followed by Sweden which accepted 69,350 applicants (double the number of 2015), Italy which accepted 35,450 (+20%), France which accepted 35,170 (+35%), Austria which accepted 31,750 (+79%) and the Netherlands which accepted 21,825 (+28%).

Out of all the persons who were granted protection status in 2016 in the EU, 389,670 persons were granted refugee status (55% of all positive decisions), 263,755 subsidiary protection (37%) and 56,970 authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons (8%).

Refugee and subsidiary protection status are defined by EU law, while humanitarian status is granted on the basis of national legislation.