Last week’s footage of the incident at the Valletta bus terminus has thrust racist attacks on black people in Malta into the limelight. After the assault on Daboma Jack, followed by his wrongful arrest, others are now coming forward to speak up.
On such person is Mesfen Tereraga, a young student originally from Ethiopia, who felt the need to come forward and explain that most black people encounter racist attacks or insults on a daily basis.
Mesfen arrived in Malta by boat in April 2011 and since then, he has been granted refugee status. Two years ago, he started an engineering course at MCAST; however, despite enjoying the course, the racist remarks he has to face every-day are turning his college days into more of a trauma, then the memorable period of his life it should be.
“I’ve had students and lecturers telling me to go back to my country, that I have no right to take their jobs and their money. I have even reported such incidents to the director, but no one takes me seriously,” he says.
Referring to Dobama Jack’s incident in Valletta last week, the young man said that the reality is that such incidents are happening each and every day. “We are pushed out of police stations, scorned at when we ask for help. When other people are present, police are more cautious, but when it’s just them they become bullies, acting like they own the place” he says.
“I can’t say all Maltese people are racists, because there are the good and bad people in every country. ’I’ve read that the Maltese people were welcoming when St Paul visited Malta, but it’s so different today. I left Ethiopia in the hope of a better life, but trying to integrate within the Maltese community feels like hell. You might not get killed physically, like back in my country, but they do destroy you mentally,” he says.
“God made us one – he made no distinction between whites, blacks or Jews.”
Because of the ordeals he has to face, Mesfen is striving to be resettled in another country.
Malta ranked 33 out of 38 countries assessed in terms of migrant integration, with public attitude towards migrants remaining a critical barrier to effective integration. Other reports have shown that migrants are often discriminated against by employers and estate agents.
MCAST condemns racist incidents
In comments to The Malta Independent, MCAST’s CEO Stephen Cachia said that he was not made aware of reports of racism at MCAST and urged Mesfen to come forward. “Such remarks would be completely unacceptable and we invite the student concerned to contact us so that we can investigate the allegations further and take any appropriate action if necessary.”
“MCAST is an inclusive educational institution and strongly condemns any racist incidents. It has worked hard to support immigrant students to integrate as much as possible within our institution, including the provision of additional lessons to support these students and the creation of very small class sizes in certain cases to ensure that students get individual attention,” he said.
This year, MCAST introduced the new role of student support co-ordinator within each institute, support which was previously being only offered by the Student Support Services department and our Learning Support Unit. “We sincerely feel that we have worked hard to ensure a smooth integration as possible for immigrant students.”