The challenges of irregular immigration to Malta are long-term. There is a need for politicians and the country at large to acknowledge that the influx is unlikely to abate. It will wax and wane, as it has done over the last eleven years. Such is the state of the global economy and the future effects of climate change that it is probably unstoppable. Malta must be prepared for this and continue to improve its ability to cope with a continuing influx. Perhaps more importantly, it should accept that a sizeable core of asylum-seekers will settle in Malta and will become an integral part of the community.

At any one time about 2,000 immigrants are housed in open accommodation centres in Marsa and Hal Far, about 1,000 or more in Closed Accommodation Centres, and about 1,500 to 2,000 (the Police do not have reliable figures) live in the community – mostly in St Paul’s Bay, Birzebbuga, Floriana, Msida and Gzira. For planning purposes it would be wise to assume that, despite continuing efforts at resettlement in EU countries or the United States, there will probably be a core of about 4,500 to 5,000 refugees living in Malta at any one time. The key question for policy-makers is: how should Malta organise itself to cope with the relatively new phenomenon of black Africans living and working among us?       

As the recent out-pouring of racist and xenophobic bile has demonstrated, there is regrettably a large segment of Maltese society which, for various reasons, ranging from ignorance and fear, to lack of compassion, to outright racism, has rejected any form of acceptance of the immigrant community. Few immigrants or Maltese participate in inter-cultural or multi-cultural activities. Very few develop a meaningful relationship with a Maltese person, and vice-versa. Moreover, successive studies have shown that most immigrants feel discriminated against at work even though they are doing work the Maltese do not want, and are often paid less for doing so. The Maltese and immigrant communities are simply not mingling.

There is clearly a need for the proper development of an ‘integration’ policy which addresses such matters as employment, education, housing and similar issues in a holistic manner. But until now ‘integration’ has been the policy that dare not speak its name. Until the general election, it was a dirty word politically as both government and opposition appeared to pander to the concerns – invariably ill-informed and racially prejudiced – of some sections of the electorate

There is reason to hope, however, that the mood music has changed. At the height of the ill-judged push-back saga a month ago, the Prime Minister made overt references to the need for asylum-seekers to be integrated in Maltese society. And this was swiftly followed by an interesting article in the Times of Malta by the minister responsible for integration, Helena Dalli, in which she broached the need openly “to seriously address the reality of immigrants who are here to stay....Integration is a dynamic, two-way process of mutual accommodation by all immigrants and residents....We need to take significant and substantial action. How to get there must not be a source of division within our nation. Immigration reform is a concern for all”.

These are brave words by the government, and although the article was short on tangible proposals for change the mere fact of having a minister who has not only been made personally responsible for integration, but is also prepared to talk openly about it is ground-breaking indeed.

On a matter of such social importance, there are two key factors for success. First, it is crucial to have a comprehensive action plan for integration. And secondly, it is vital that the government and the opposition should not play political games over it. The political consensus and bi-partisan approach that existed when the immigration crisis first broke ten years ago needs to be restored. Politicians, the Church and other opinion-formers have a duty to give a lead. The lesson to be learnt from the mistakes committed by other countries, which failed to tackle the issue of integration at the outset, is that the longer proactive steps to develop policies in the fields of employment, education, housing and social security are postponed, the more difficult will be the consequences.

It is in Malta’s long-term interests to adopt a well-ordered and structured policy of inclusion, not exclusion, of those who are already living among us. At its most basic, a policy of inclusion means that all those who have been granted asylum or some form of protected status should receive equal treatment under our laws and should benefit socially equally for employment, housing, education, health and social security purposes.

As Helena Dalli hinted in her article, immigrants should enter the ‘mainstream’ of government administration and not be placed on the side-lines in a special category all their own - with all the inevitable anomalies that this entails. This will mean, inter alia, over-due action to ensure immigrants’ entitlement to social and other benefits are formalised and enacted under the relevant laws. This makes sense not only administratively, but also socially and economically. In an ageing population the sooner we mobilise this largely untapped source of (young) legitimate labour the better. 

'Mainstreaming' as it is known in the jargon will be the first big test for Helena Dalli and the government for it means persuading all Cabinet members affected, from education and employment to finance, economic affairs and social security, that this is a policy they will back to the hilt. Standing in her way, unless he resolves to be cooperative, will be the looming presence of the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, one of whose overriding responsibilities is every aspect of irregular immigration. Unless there is complete synergy on this issue between Manuel Mallia and Helena Dalli, the integration project will be still-born.   

Coupled with this, there needs to be a concerted and comprehensive campaign of information and education to explain to the Maltese people what the government is doing, why it is doing it and that a policy of integration poses no threat to Malta's way of life, employment opportunities or national identity. Over the centuries, Malta has absorbed many peoples of different nationalities, cultures, backgrounds, religious beliefs and skin colours, making us the nation we are today. We should have nothing to fear and much to gain. Who knows, we might one day have a Maltese marathon winner in the Olympics of Ethiopian or Somali descent?

Politically, the benefits will be significant. As a civilised, democratic country, we should not tolerate the treatment of anybody – of whatever race, colour or creed – any differently from the way we treat our own country-men. More importantly, however, there is already a risk of a ghetto-isation occurring in our community, with particular parts of the country becoming the homes of immigrants and placing more pressures on housing, educational, health and other amenities. This development cannot bode well for future social harmony.

It is essential to institute a policy of integration now, while matters are relatively stable, than have to act precipitately when the crisis occurs.