The Government has enacted, through delegated legislation (Legal Notice 170 of 2025), the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (Amendment) Regulations, 2025. The new amendments state that AWAS shall, as soon as possible, carry out an age assessment whenever there is uncertainty as to whether a person falling under one of the following categories is a minor:
(a) Persons disembarked in Malta following search and rescue operations;
(b) Applicants for, and beneficiaries of international protection relocated to Malta;
(c) Persons admitted [into the territory], or who are being considered for admission in Malta pursuant to resettlement or humanitarian admission; and
(d) Applicants for international protection.