A national strategy and action plan on integration is at an advanced stage of drafting, a spokesperson from Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties told The Malta Independent.
The ministry was responding to questions after St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea called on the government to form a dedicated action plan for migrants to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps, following an increase in vandalism and graffiti in the area.
Some sources also revealed certain divisions between nationalities in the locality.
The ministry spokesperson went on to say that the current situation is unprecedented prior to the drawing up of any ad hoc solutions, it will need to be understood better, but it is likely going to require short term and medium term measures.
Short term measures include increased policing and possibly a process of conflict resolution to a longer term process of community building.
The ministry said that it has already set up a number of different structures to address integration issues such as the Directorate for Human Rights and Integration, the Forum for Integration Affairs consisting of representatives of various migrant communities and works in liaison with other ministries to ensure mainstreaming of government’s approach on integration
Asked whether or not the ministry believed that linguistic and cultural divisions have led to isolated communities, the spokesperson said that it was for this reason that the ministry will insist upon migrants to familiarize themselves with the Maltese language and culture through tailor-made course. This project is currently awaiting approval.
PN Spokesperson for Integration Francis Zammit Dimech said that in principle he was in favour of such a plan and called on the government to listen to the recommendations of specialized NGOs in this field.
He also called on the government to “stop being hypocritical and only interested in sound bites that sound right” saying that this proposal is “in direct contradiction with the government's recent play acting with regard to a small number of migrants who have been in Malta for many years.”
Moviment Patrijotti Maltin is the most vocal critics of integration and has called for a referendum on the issue. The political movement has also found itself at the centre of two highly controversial protests.
The first, which took place in Msida, was against Muslims praying in open air spaces and involved the distribution of pork sandwiches to protesters.
They had claimed that St Paul’s Bay primary school children who took pork sandwiches to school with them were being bullied and intimated that this issue had also been raised by the parish priest.
This was later confirmed to be false.
The second, which took place in Bugibba in October, was against what they were claiming was the building of an illegal mosque in Bugibba. However, all it involved was the change of use and sanctioning of a garage into a prayer room. A number of protesters made a number of racial slurs during the organized protest.
Tensions between cultures also manifested itself when slices of bacon were found in Quran books at Mater Dei’s prayer room.
A printed A4 paper was also found, bearing a picture of Fr Jacques Hamel who was murdered in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, France.
The message on the paper read: “RIP Fr Jacques Hamel, victim of Islam and its liberal/progressive apologists. A religion with blood on its hand cannot complain that its books are soiled.”