Police arrested 24 third country nationals over the weekend whose status in the Republic was illegal.

They were then taken into custody and authorities have initiated procedures for their immediate repatriation.

The police crackdown started at 4am on Sunday and ended around noon. It was carried out by the immigration service as well as members of the Green Line surveillance unit.

In total in the last week, police arrested 63 illegal third-country nationals and repatriated 173.

Since the start of the year, 8,806 persons have been deported.