Growing Xenophobia
There is a steadily growing trend of xenophobic feeling in Malta that has me worried. It is still relatively minor, with people passing little comments here and there. But that is how it all starts and I see it growing. And like all prejudices, one begins to hear the same clichés over and over again about immigrants, particularly directed at refugees from African countries:
“They are taking our jobs!”
“They are dangerous!”
“They all congregate together around Marsa [town near the refugee open centre] and you do not want to be there at night!”
Just this morning, a Maltese acquaintance decided to make small talk with me by saying “Malta is filling up with black people!” I think she was a bit surprised that instead of agreeing, I challenged her:
ME: “So?”
Mrs. X: “Well, I am scared of them.”
ME: “Why? We are all the same inside.”
Mrs. X: “Not the same, their skin is black!”
ME: “So? We are all the same inside.”
Mrs. X: “I saw that your neighbour is black with a Maltese wife, but their daughter is not black, she is more like her mother.”
ME: “Yes, and the next-door neighbours are Arab, and upstairs there is a woman from Bosnia. It is a very international street. You know, in my country it is like that. We have people who are black, white, Indian, Chinese, and all the mixes.”
Mrs. X: “But your skin, it is light, you are like us.”
ME: “Well, yes. But we are all the same. We are all children of God.” [I say smugly, knowing that the Maltese like to see themselves as good Catholics]
Mrs. X: “Well, yes, that is true. But I don’t know, we Maltese, we are different.”
ME: “If you go to London or Paris, you will see people of many colours and countries. That is the way the world is.”
She gave me an unconvinced look. Overall I felt she was a bit taken aback that I did not just agree and further fuel her sentiments.
What worries me is that this was not an isolated incident. I am hearing these types of comments more and more. I hear people complain about too many black people on buses, too many black people on the streets. Over and over again I have heard people complain that they are angered to see black people with mobile phones or out in the pubs and discos in Paċeville. How ridiculous! As if it is wrong for someone to buy a mobile phone just because he is black and came here as a refugee! There is also the mistaken assumption that all black people are refugees, or that they are all poor and uneducated.
The problem, of course, is ignorance and lack of exposure to people who are different. Like my acquaintance mentioned above, who is a sweet lady and did not mean any harm. She just has lived in a small village in Malta all her life and does not know any better.
As with most world problems, I do not really have a perfect solution. But perhaps the media should stop demonising refugees as some cancer on society. More compassion should be shown. The news stories should focus on individual people and the horrible circumstances that lead a person to put his or her own life at risk and set to sea on an unreliable raft. THAT is a point that needs to be stressed and nobody seems to think about. I cannot stress it enough.
And it is very much a racial problem. When it comes to black people, the argument is quickly brought up that Malta is small and there is not enough space. However, since Malta joined the European Union it has to adhere to freedom of movement, and people do not seem to be too troubled by the fact that there are over 300 million EU citizens that are free to come and settle here in Malta any time they want. Is it because they are (mostly) white?
I fully agree with you. A few years back it was something very rare to see a black person in Malta. The island used to be so isolated. Only in recent years (sort of overnight) Malta has come to deal with certain issues and it will certainly take a while for people to think in more global terms. There is def. the need for education, eg., PR.
I remember that when I read the summary of the Amnesty International report regarding Malta some days ago I was shocked to find phrases like this:
“Journalists, human rights activists and others were subjected to arson attacks for speaking out against racism. Irregular migrants continued to be subject to a policy of automatic detention.
Overt racism continued to increase. The non-governmental coalition, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), noted that debate in the news media and on the Internet was increasingly hostile towards immigrants and that racist attacks and hate speech were on the rise.
Arson attacks targeted individuals or organizations that actively worked to protect the human rights of migrants and refugees or denounced racist and discriminatory attitudes and actions in Maltese society. Racist speech and attacks appeared to find increasing legitimacy within Maltese society.”
You can find the report here http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Europe-and-Central-Asia/Malta
What surprises me is that people don’t happen to “acknowledge” the fact that illegal immigrants are also beign hired and are being using as cheap labor and thus also affecting the Maltese economy.
It also surprises me that nobody seems to be aware of the conditions (not even the location in many cases) of the detention and open centres and take it mildly as if we are not living in the same island and that for instance, skin diseases are easily transmitted. As easy as getting on a bus and then coming to work…or that nobody talks about (as you well pointed out) the reasons why people leave their countries and risk their lives trying to survive. But then again, few things truly surprise me anymore…
Very interesting article!!! As a Maltese person, I must admit that there is still a huge amount of ignorance when it comes to various local perceptions about foreigners. It seems that the school curricula are still lagging when it comes to teaching children that we should all regard one another as fellow human beings working for a better world.
I have also noticed that during most discussions about illegal immigration, it appears that the arguments are always one-sided; the points are always related to how the Maltese population is supposedly suffering as a result of the immigrants who come to Malta. I hardly ever hear any discussions about the shocking conditions that exist inside the detention centres. Or the fact that just because human beings do not get to choose the country in which they are born does not mean that they must be confined to their countries for all their lives.
Wow, that’s really interesting. I recall hearing a few years back that people abroad have all these negative associations with black people (specifically African Americans) because of the way they are depicted/stereotyped in U.S. media. As a non-white person myself, I am disturbed by the bias that exists against people whose skins are darker. Even in places where people share the same nationality, it seems that the lighter one’s skin/hair, the more likely one will be embraced by society.
A really interesting story! Well put … but sad to hear at the same time. I’ve not been to Malta yet, but am eager to visit!