'I'm black, and I am Maltese'

Ghanaian-Maltese Ahmed Bugri, who has lived in Malta for 18 years and is pastor and coordinator of the Marsa Open Centre, speaks his mind to Ariadne Massa.

Flying in from Brussels where he represented Malta at the European Parliament, Ahmed Bugri, 43, was sharing a joke with his boss as the aircraft touched down.

Suddenly, a man gets up from behind and starts shouting: "Inti klandestin (derogatory term for illegal immigrant)... You have no right to laugh."

When Mr Bugri calmly informed the man that he is a Maltese citizen this infuriated him further and he insisted Malta was his motherland.

"It's a typical reaction of some people who feel that as a black-skinned person I'm less of a Maltese. But I am Maltese," he says, shrugging off the incident with a hearty guffaw.

Sitting back in his office in Marsa, his eyes flit momentarily to the huge child-like painting of the African continent that takes up the wall, and recounts how he was invited by a Catholic prayer group to study and work in Malta in 1990.

At the age of 24 he planned to stay a while before moving on, but his wife-to-be Marcelle became his magnet to the island. He got married and has three children - Naomi, 13; Jasmine, 11; and Ezekiel, eight.

Shedding his ingrained cultural mannerisms was hard, and momentarily shifting to speak in Maltese, he laughs, thanking God his wife nudged him along the right path.

"When I first came here, I tried to talk slowly and look down, because we're taught that to respect someone you look down. But people felt they couldn't trust me because I was not looking them in the eye. I was trying to show respect but it had the opposite effect", gesturing with his hands in typical Maltese fashion to stress a point.

It also took time to get used to the way Maltese speak - they shout and seem to be arguing with one another - and he jokes he is "still learning to be Maltese after 18 years".

Having lived in Rome and Brussels, he eventually chose to live with his family in Malta because he felt secure and loved the sense of familiarity.

However, he feels this sense of security is slowly being eroded. Having lived in Malta for so long, he senses the mood changing with the arrival of immigrants reaching Malta's shores on rickety boats. He believes the Maltese are becoming increasingly hostile towards Africans, and his children are now facing derogatory remarks from their friends.

"Unfortunately, the feelings are becoming hardened and people don't trust you, which can be very frustrating. Sometimes I want to scream, 'hey listen, there are black Maltese here', but the very words create problems," he says.

There were times when he forgot he was black, but these days, when he boards the bus to go to work, he can hear people talking about him in Maltese, assuming he is an immigrant who does not understand them.

This never used to happen. Sometimes, he just sits there listening to passengers rant about how "these people are coming to take our jobs; they have diseases; they are changing our religion; they are dirty..."

Other times, he smiles and, says, "bonġu, kif inti? (good morning, how are you?)". Then they get embarrassed. However, Mr Bugri accepts their fears and recognises that Malta has had to grapple with change in a short period of time.

He recalls how in the early 1990s, there were just a handful of blacks in Malta - "we were an attraction, which we used to our advantage" - but admits the numbers of migrants roaming the streets can be scary for the Maltese.

Being in the unusual position of understanding the psyche of both communities, Mr Bugri, who is in his final year as a law student at the University of Malta, attempts to understand the raw emotions that separate the two.

He speaks about how young Africans were fleeing abject poverty, deprivation, or war. Their extended families would have sponsored their passage to Europe and they would rather die trying to succeed than face the shame of not being able to provide for their families back home.

Embarking on the treacherous trip across the Mediterranean with destination Europe in mind, they land in Malta, a country not on their itinerary, and instead of setting foot on the greener pastures they are locked in detention.

"True, you cannot just allow people to come into Malta and start roaming the streets. It would create chaos... And I'm not supporting the government's detention policy, but nor am I denying it - it is a fact," he says.

"When people come here and are detained it reinforces their hatred towards the island. They think, I went to Malta to find a new life and I was locked up.

"So you have the migrant community who don't want to stay. Then you have the Maltese who are saying we don't know these people, they eat with their hands, and they speak a language we don't understand...

"You have these two communities who do not accept each other. That is where we are at the moment. Either the immigrants are going to return to Africa or they're going to move forward. Or they have to integrate. The possibilities are there, but integration is a very difficult," he adds.

He points out that detention leads to lethargy, and if the immigrants firmly believe they are just in transition, it makes learning the host country's language and culture doubly hard.

Without an incentive to stay in Malta all they are interested in is to eat, sleep, wake up and play football. This in turn, sparks animosity from Maltese who feel their 'hospitality' is being trampled upon.

"It's not because people don't want to learn, but they think if you're going to deport me, I don't need to learn, so send me back today," he says, delving into the importance of a programme that holistically deals with migration.

Steps are being taken in the right direction and the Marsa Open Centre provides English language courses, computer training and cultural orientation, which Mr Bugri says are always packed.

So what brings Mr Bugri, the family man and law student, to the Marsa centre; the heart of what is commonly described as a no-go area?

"Well, as an African, I'm a bridge between the two communities, and that's difficult. The Africans expect too much while the Maltese expect me not to take the African side," he says.

As a pastor with the New Life Christian Centre for the past years, Mr Bugri first got involved when he voluntarily visited detention centres, praying with immigrants and helping alleviate their fears from rumours that crept in through the bars.

Last year, he was roped in for three months to help with the Dar project, an EU co-funded repatriation programme that provides immigrants with the chance and financial backing to voluntarily go home and set up their own business.

The need to provide for the family is crucial to an African's way of life, so going back empty-handed is not an option.

Mr Bugri explains that Africans live in communities with the extended family, so if they had invested in the young man's trip to leave Africa they expect a lot in return. It is like a social security system, and sometimes immigrants in Malta send back 90 per cent of what they earn or receive in benefits, preferring to go hungry than let their families go without.

So the Dar project is the perfect solution because it provides immigrants with the incentive to establish a business venture in their country.

"I've been at Marsa ever since, and I think I'll be here for a long time", he says, looking up as an immigrant knocks on his office door.

Several immigrants are waiting outside to see the administrator next door, while others are just on the periphery of the centre sitting on stone slabs under trees waiting to be picked up to do odd jobs.

Trade unions have been at the forefront to highlight migrant workers' exploitation. Is Mr Bugri concerned?

"The fact migrants are exploited is simply because there are no regulations. The unions will say the workers are being exploited but how many have come to the open centres to sit down and propose what they want to do with this labour force?" he says.

"Everybody knows migrants are being exploited, but what do we do? As a manager of the open centre I cannot follow everybody on the street. I only learn about the exploitation when they come to my office to complain, and it happens very, very often", he says, adding that certain situations stem from cultural misunderstandings.

He explains that if a migrant agrees to work for €2.50 an hour and then finds out his friend is working for somebody else and getting €3.50 an hour, chances are he would confront his boss and tell him he will not work unless he is paid more.

"Most of these people don't understand what a contract is. I don't think it's because the Maltese are out to use black people. I tell migrants if someone wants to employ you, bring the person to the office, we'll agree on a price and write a small agreement... You can't just change the rules, but there is no policy or government regulation so everyone does what they want," he says.

Looking out through the slated blinds of his window as immigrants go about their life, he sighs and says that in Marsa he is dealing with people who need help but did not know they needed this help.

"Marsa is a shock for many people but at the same time it's a comfort for many others," he says.

"Some immigrants face hostility, not from everybody because there are many Maltese who are generous, but then you have the few who pass by and squirt pepper spray in immigrants' eyes.

"There are those who go into a shop to buy and the shop owner won't sell to them; there are those who go to Paceville and are refused entry into nightclubs; and the list goes on and on. They find comfort in themselves, so they come to Marsa to create their own community because each one feels pain.

"The danger is they risk isolating themselves in the community in which they have come to live in and create an artificial Africa in Marsa," he says, adding that since he took over, the greatest challenge has been to instil a sense of discipline and responsibility. The death of Suleiman Abubaker, who was reportedly drunk when he tried to enter the nightclub, promptly led many to preach that alcohol is forbidden in Islam.

Mr Bugri smiles when asked what values he tries to enforce at the centre: "True, most come from a Muslim background, and are Muslims by birth, just as many Maltese are Catholics by birth. But they don't practise. It is so liberating to live in a free society after living in an undemocratic country. Suddenly, you learn how to live freely and if you're not used to alcohol, with one beer you're off."

He acknowledges that alcohol can become a crutch for immigrants who cannot find work and have nothing to do. They want to drink to forget, "their mind becomes quiet", but Mr Bugri says this is not the solution.

Alcohol and drinking has been barred from the centre, a move that was very difficult to achieve because people felt they could do what they wanted.

"I get threatened all the time because I establish rules... we cannot afford to have 800 people living in a centre with chaos; it won't work. My advice to them is to be careful that your freedom does not impinge on somebody else's freedom."

On the subject of Mr Abubaker, Mr Bugri describes how he wanted to test the waters in Paceville after the man's death, so he tried to enter the same nightclub. Dressed smartly and accompanied by an American friend, the bouncer just smiled and told him "members only".

"I asked about a membership card and asked about a form to apply. As I was talking to him, two Maltese pass by, flash their ID card and walk in. I just lost it... I felt humiliated. I was too angry and just walked off. I didn't want to do something and embarrass myself," he says, admitting such situations really hurt.

Did he see a solution in sight?

"Yes, I definitely see hope. The fact that things are being debated, whether positively or negatively, is a good thing because we are beginning to realise there is a problem, and once people focus on this they will focus on a solution one day," he says.

He points out that the death of Mr Abubaker brought several issues to the fore and forced migrants and Maltese alike to rethink their stance. He believes the same way that campaigns on granting disabled people rights worked, the issue of race should be debated and discussed.

"The passions should come out and people should scream and shout, but ultimately we need an answer... Racism should be tackled," he stresses.

Mr Bugri is quick to point out that while racism should be discussed it was discouraging to see the debate go off at a tangent through maverick far-right Imperium Europa leader Norman Lowell.

"It was disappointing to have Mr Lowell contest the MEP election, especially after he was convicted for inciting racial hatred. I think it was a blow. He should not have been allowed", he says, adding that Mr Lowell's supporters tried to hide their racist sentiments behind illegal immigration to justify what they were saying.

"Let's separate between illegal immigration and racism (and discuss the issues)... Am I, Ahmed, as a black Maltese, seen as a full citizen of Malta? That is my question."

Watch excerpts of the interview on www.timesofmalta.com.