The International Protection Agency has replaced the role of the Refugee Commissioner, which was established by the Refugees Act 2000. For 20 years, the Office of the Refugee Commissioner was the first instance asylum determination authority in Malta. However, the need to further strengthen the capacity of this Office became a necessity as asylum procedures developed and become more complex due to legislative requirements.

The role of the International Protection Agency (IPA) has remained that of receiving and examining applications for international protection according to national, EU and international law, and in accordance with Malta’s obligations.

The IPA was officially established on the 7th August 2020 with the introduction of LN 194 of 2020.  As we now operate as an Agency, we have additional resources and greater flexibility within our internal structure to better adapt to the complex and delicate procedures of asylum determination.

We believe that a strong and robust asylum system should ensure that those who are in need of international protection are recognized as such, while those who are not in need of protection are returned to their country of origin. Therefore, at the IPA, we must ensure that necessary decisions are taken so that those who cannot be returned to their country because of persecution or other serious harm are granted protection status, and those who are not eligible for asylum are processed as quickly as possible so as to enable return to their country of origin.