A report drawn up by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice on the prevalence of racism and xenophobia in Malta has fallen short of providing a clear picture of the situation because of the dearth of official data.

The report notes, “This absence of data is itself an obstacle to arrive at a true picture of the situation.”

The report, drawn up for the year 2004, nevertheless found that Malta is not free of such social ills and draws attention to certain underlying xenophobic traits directed mainly at Arabs and asylum seekers.

The report was drawn up by the Centre in its capacity as the National Focal Point for the European Union Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) and assesses the five areas of employment, education, legislation, housing and racist violence and crimes.

But in almost every area the report makes reference to the lack of official data.

Explaining that more details should be available for the 2005 report and conceding that the situation was further aggravated last year, Jesuit Refugee Service acting director Fr Paul Pace said the report will be discussed at European Parliament level. It is hoped, he added, that pressure would be applied on the Maltese authorities to carry out better official data collection on racist and xenophobic trends.

The report focuses, by its remit, on data for 2004. As such it obviously excludes what could be considered as a shift in sentiment following an unprecedented influx of irregular migrants and a number of related incidents that gripped the national attention.

The report stresses the need to start “acknowledging this problem we are starting to face” and urges “for more vigorous action in favour of greater tolerance and respect of people of other races”.

NGOs, research organisations and public bodies questioned on employment reported no cases of discrimination in the year under examination, mainly because foreigners were found to be treated well and generally accepted in the workplace. The report did, however, point out that unreported discrimination is most likely to be directed toward irregular immigrants. “These people are likely to be working illegally and would not resort to official channels to complain,” the report found. It also refers to a positive case at one company, where segregation and unfair distribution of tasks are avoided by assigning workers of different nationalities to each task, allowing workers to get to know each other and fostering a better understanding of other races.

While in 2004 there were no court cases, complaints or statistics related to racism or discrimination in the housing sector, the report points out that such discrimination does exist, but is not evident from any official study. The report cites a survey carried out by television programme Xarabank, which found that Maltese are uncomfortable with Arab, Nigerian and Jewish neighbours. This compares with a preference for foreigners of western nationalities such as Italians or Americans as neighbours. The trend, according to the report, is confirmed by reports from property agents, who cite that Maltese generally object to having Arabs as tenants and react badly when they find out a property they are considering purchasing has Arab neighbours. As examples of good practice in housing, the report cites the Emigrants Commission’s efforts to find adequate accommodation for refugees.

There was only one case of racist violence or crimes in 2004, when comments deemed to be racist were passed by a European Parliamentary election candidate who made degrading remarks about a fellow candidate of Nigerian origin.

The report also finds there is a need to create further awareness on the matter by means of education at schools, in the media and even in the realm of sports.

The full report can be found on the Internet at: eumc.eu.int