Racism survey indicates anti-Arab feeling

Four out of every 10 Maltese people would not like to have an Arab national as their neighbour, if a survey on racism carried out by the weekly TV programme Xarabank is anything to go by.

In fact, 40.6 per cent of the respondents said they would react badly if an Arab became their neighbour. Other nationals would not be welcome either: Nigerian (32.5 per cent), Jew (30.1 per cent), Chinese (26.9 per cent), Italian (20.5 per cent) and American (19.3 per cent).

The highest percentage among those who said that their reaction would be a positive one was for an American neighbour (10 per cent), followed by an Italian (9.6 per cent), Chinese (7.6 per cent), Jew (6.4 per cent), Nigerian (5.6 per cent) and Arab (four per cent).

In all cases, the majority of respondents said they could not care less if a foreigner became their neighbour.

In the case of all nationalities or races, the majority of respondents said they would react badly if their daughter or son married a foreigner. The highest percentage of those who said their reaction would be a negative one was for an Arab spouse (69.5 per cent), followed by a Nigerian (64.3 per cent), a Jew (63.1 per cent), a Chinese (61 per cent), an American and an Italian (50.2 per cent in each case).

The most positive reaction for marrying a foreigner was for the American spouse (8.8 per cent), followed by an Italian (eight per cent), a Jew and a Chinese (3.2 per cent each), a Nigerian (2.8 per cent) and an Arab (two per cent).

Among those who said they would not care less if their daughter or son married a foreigner, the lowest percentage was among those who mentioned an Arab (28.5 per cent), followed by the other nationalities (all within the range between 32.9 per cent and 41.8 per cent).

Those who said they were not worried about different cultures infiltrating in Malta (47.4 per cent) perfectly balanced out those who said they were concerned (47.4 per cent). Another 5.2 per cent said they were undecided.