Valetta, Malta  - Some 227 would-be immigrants arrived in Malta Wednesday, further compounding the Mediterranean island's illegal immigration problems, authorities said.

The nationalities of the group, including two babies and 22 women, have yet to be established.

The arrival is the second this month by a large group of immigrants. Some 262 people landed on February 1.

Two groups of some 150 immigrants each arrived in December and January. Some 35 Egyptians were deported on Tuesday.

A Eurobarometer survey released last week showed that illegal immigration is the biggest concern among the tiny island's 400,000 inhabitants.

The anger has been increasingly fuelled as more immigrants attempt to take the treacherous sea-crossing from North Africa during the current winter months. dpa