Council of Maltese Living Abroad

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced the names of the people who will be members of the Council of Maltese Living Abroad.

Malta now joins a number of European countries who have a structured dialogue with their expatriate communities through institutions or organisations set up for this purpose: from the Finnish Expatriate Parliament to the Assembly of French Abroad, from the General Council of Italian Abroad to Danes Worldwide. A federation, ‘Europeans throughout the World’, brings together these organisations at the European level.

People are more likely to move around today, to enter into mixed marriages, to make purchases and buy property in different countries and to find jobs with companies or organisations that are even more mobile and international in their scope and operations. A number of countries, Malta included, now allow their citizens to acquire dual and even multiple citizenship and, for members of the EU, the additional category of European citizenship is also provided for through the EU treaties.

In circumstances like these it is necessary that law and policy making are well informed and evidence-based regarding the state of play of a globalised diaspora. The Council of Maltese Living Abroad can provide invaluable input and a new perspective in this regard.

This council can only be a success if there is open, two-way communication with people it represents. I take this opportunity to encourage fellow Maltese living abroad to follow developments on this council and to get in touch with its members should the need arise.