From Mogadishu to Malta : travel experiences of Somali migrants

Abstract

In recent years, Malta has been confronted with a steep rise in irregular immigration by boat across the Mediterranean. Since 2002, on average around 1,600 "boat people" have landed on its shores, with the total number of arrivals reaching some 12,000 by 2010. While these migrants have hailed from many different parts of the world, the single most important group have been Somalis, who have accounted for more than 30% of arrivals by boat. The share of Somali migrants landing on Malta was particularly high in 2009, when more than half of all irregular immigrants came from Somalia. When it comes to asylum applications, as well, Somalis have topped the list. Of the 2,387 applications for political asylum which Malta received in 2009, around 60% (1,446) came from Somalis. Similarly, Somalis have long been the main nationality group in Malta's so-called Open centers, accounting for around 60% (1,624) of the Open Center population (2,783) at the end of 2009 (National Statistics Office, 2010). Needless to say, the high number of Somali migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Malta and other European countries has been a consequence of the civil war which has raged in the country since the early 1990s, and which according to some estimates has left up to 1 million Somalis dead.