Most Africans feel harassed in Malta

The majority of Africans migrants, legal or not, experience widespread racism and harassment when in Malta, according to new research.

The Maltese may not like to admit they are racist but, according to preliminary results of the first EU-wide survey of immigrant and ethnic minority groups' experiences, 55 per cent of Africans in Malta said discrimination was very common.

The survey was conducted across the 27 member states by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). It found that, despite the high profile given to many human rights and pro-migration organisations, 93 per cent of immigrants did not know of any group that advised them on how to fight discrimination.

More worrying was the fact that black migrants in Malta also felt discriminated against by those who were supposed to be there to protect them: 55 per cent of the 500 immigrants interviewed believed they were stopped by the police over the past 12 months because of their colour and not because they were suspected of any wrongdoing.

The survey in Malta was conducted between May and July last year through a series of interviews outside open detention centres.

According to the FRA, interviewers were not given permission to conduct interviews inside the open centres and the Imam of the Muslim Mosque also declined permission to interview North African residents in the Mosque's precincts. The report said the Imam resisted the study and advised North African immigrants to ignore the survey.

The survey showed 63 per cent of African immigrants replying in the affirmative when asked whether they had felt discriminated against in Malta the previous year. This is the second highest level of perceived discrimination in the EU among ethnic minorities, surpassed only by the Roma minority in the Czech Republic where 64 per cent felt discriminated against.

Asked to specify how they felt discriminated against, many mentioned a common episode in their daily life when in a bar or restaurant or while doing their shopping. Another 30 per cent said they felt harassed or threatened by locals in the previous 12 months because of the fact that they were Africans and 26 per cent said they steered clear of certain places because they feared becoming victims of hate crime.

On an EU level, the survey revealed that discrimination, harassment and racially-motivated violence were far more widespread than recorded in official statistics.

The results suggested a sense of resignation among ethnic minorities and immigrants who appeared to lack confidence in mechanisms to protect victims.