Methodological Notes

● Asylum seeker: A person who has requested asylum in a country and is awaiting a decision on the application under relevant national and international processes. This definition generally refers to all who apply for protection on an individual basis, irrespective of whether they lodge their application on arrival at an airport or land border, or from inside the country, and irrespective of whether they entered the territory legally or illegally.

● Asylum applicant: A person having submitted an application for international protection. 

● Application for asylum: The application made by a non-EU national or a stateless person which can be understood as a request for international protection from a Member State under the Geneva Convention. Any application for international protection is presumed to be an application for asylum unless a non-EU national or a stateless person explicitly requests another kind of protection that can be applied for separately. An application for asylum is deemed to have been lodged once a form is submitted by the applicant for asylum or a report prepared by the authorities has reached the competent authorities. This includes first applications and repeated applications (subsequent, reopened and new) but excludes applications for temporary protection and reviews of positive decisions previously taken by the IPA.

● Assisted voluntary returns (AVR): Programmes which provide administrative and financial support to non-EU nationals residing in the country who wish to return permanently to their country of origin. Such support also ensures that their return is sustainable.

● Geneva Convention status: Refugee status granted within the meaning of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28th July 1951 to a person “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it”.

● First instance decision: A decision granted by the respective authority acting as a first instance of the administrative/judicial asylum procedure in the receiving country. In Malta, the authority is the International Protection Agency (IPA). In this release, first instance decisions reported refer to positive decisions and rejections/applications deemed inadmissible. The data excludes any other decisions that may have been taken by the IPA in the reference year, such as applications that were discontinued as explicitly/implicitly withdrawn, administrative closures and applications closed as Dublin cases.

● Final instance decision: A decision against which there is no further possibility to appeal on the substance of the decision but only on procedural grounds. In Malta, such decisions are taken by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT).

● Open centre population: The Open Centre population comprises persons residing in Ħal Far Tent Village, Ħal Far Open Centre, Dar il-Liedna (Fgura), and Marsa Open Centre (The Initial Reception Centre). Marsa Open Centre was closed in March 2024.

● Person being a subject of a pending application: A person who is the subject of an application for international protection under consideration by the responsible national authority at the end of the reference period. It includes the number of persons with pending applications at all instances of the administrative and/or judicial procedure.

● Person granted authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons: A person covered by a decision granting authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons under national law concerning international protection. It includes persons who are not eligible for international protection but are nonetheless protected against removal.

● Person granted subsidiary protection status: A person who is eligible for subsidiary protection is a non-EU national or a stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee but in respect of whom substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person concerned, if returned to his/her country of origin, or in the case of a stateless person, to his/her country of former habitual residence, would face a real risk of suffering serious harm and is unable, or, owing to such risk, unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country (Art.2(e), Directive 2004/83/EC).

● Refugee: A non-EU national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country, or a stateless person, who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reason as mentioned above, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it (Art.2(d), Directive 2004/83/EC).

● Rejected applicant: A person covered by a decision rejecting an application for international protection under consideration by the responsible national authority. 

● Relocation: Relocation is the transfer of non-EU nationals or stateless from one EU+ State to another, where they are permitted to reside with a secure legal status.

● Resettlement: The transfer of non-EU nationals or stateless persons to a country outside of the EU+ States, where they are permitted to reside with a secure legal status.

● Stateless: A person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law, as set out in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.

● Temporary protection: Temporary protection is an exceptional measure to provide immediate and temporary protection in the event of a mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons from non-EU countries who are unable to return to their country of origin, as outlined by the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC. The Directive was triggered for the first time by the Council in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 to offer quick and effective assistance to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. The persons currently eligible for temporary protection are: a) Ukrainian nationals residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022; b) stateless persons, and nationals of non-EU countries other than Ukraine, who benefited from international protection or equivalent national protection in Ukraine before 24 February 2022; and c) family members of the persons referred to in points (a) and (b).

● Unaccompanied minor: An asylum applicant classified as an unaccompanied minor is a child under the age of 18 who arrives without an accompanying adult responsible for their care. This also includes minors who become unaccompanied after entering the country. If an age assessment procedure is required, the reported age will be the one determined through this process.

4. Geographical information

● The European Union (EU27) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

● The European Union+ (EU+) States include Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

5. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Population and Migration Unit
Sources and methods
Statistical concepts
Metadata
Past releases