A group of 96 irregular migrants were yesterday assisted by IOM to leave Malta for Germany where they will begin new lives, under a special humanitarian status.

The relocation of the group, which consists of 88 adults and 8 children from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, is part of a pilot intra-EU Relocation of Refugees from Malta (EUREMA) programme. It aims to relocate people with some form of international protection from the small Mediterranean country to other EU Member States in a bid to help relieve some of the pressures Malta faces due to demographics and its geographic location that puts it at the sharp end of migration routes to Europe.

This group of 96 people will be relocated across all of the sixteen Federal States of Germany.

As part of the project, which is carried out in close coordination with the relevant government authorities, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), IOM provided a 5-hour pre-departure orientation class for the group to help develop realistic expectations of their new lives in Germany.  IOM will also assist the group during boarding procedures.

Upon their arrival in Germany, the group was met at the airport by representatives of the Federal States who will accompany the individuals to their final destinations and help them with their accommodation.

Integration services consisting of extensive language classes and information sessions about life in German society, the legal system, culture and history of the country will be provided to all of those relocated.

The 96 had been accorded subsidiary protection in Malta where they had arrived by boat and had spent up to six years in the country living either in open centres or in private accommodation.

The pilot relocation project complements the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum agreed in October 2008. The movement of the humanitarian cases constitutes the largest intra-European relocation with IOM support so far under the project.

For further information, please contact:

Eleonora Servino
IOM Malta
Tel: +356 21374613
E-mail: eservino@iom.int