In Malta, the predominant nationalities of the illegal migrants are Bangladeshis, Syrians and Tunisians

Statistics have been published about illegal migration in Europe. These statistics and data were compiled by UNHCR, FRONTEX and the Spanish National Police (CNP).

According to this last report, in three and a half months, almost 56,000 [55,872] illicit immigrants have entered the European continent. Spain leads the statistics with more than 17,500 illegal entries. Eighty per cent [14,030] have entered Spain through the Canary Islands region. The most common nationality of illegal migrants in Spain is sub-Saharan, followed by Moroccans and Algerians.

There were statistics about Malta and Italy. In Italy and Malta, the most common nationalities are Bangladeshis, Syrians and Tunisians. In other words, Malta has the same migratory trends as Italy. This is self-explanatory. In this case, geography is a determining factor in illegal migratory movements. This explains the presence of Tunisians in both countries. However, other factors, particularly the presence of Bangladeshis, are unrelated to geography but to other factors. In the case of the Bangladeshis, it is clear that the Maltese and Italian Governments have similar policies in attracting Bangladeshis to their respective country.

In Greece and Cyprus, the most common nationalities are Syrians, Afghans and Egyptians. In the Balkans, Syrians predominate, followed by Turks and Afghans. On the Eastern borders, the majority are Ukrainians. They are now more than 90 per cent of the illegal immigrants in Eastern Europe.