There was a noticeable increase in the level of hate speech last year, particularly over the internet, the Malta Human Rights Report 2013 has said.
In particular the report drew attention to a police complaint lodged by two women in November about “incendiary anti-immigration comments” on Facebook.
The comments on an anti-immigration page also “threatened violence against Maltese citizens deemed as ‘traitors’ and their families, as well as migrants,” the report noted.
“While the police took steps to investigate, no developments have as yet been reported, and it is feared that such inflammatory comments may be a prelude to acts of actual violence,” according to the report.
Threats of violence against Maltese citizens deemed as ‘traitors’ and their families, as well as migrants
Released yesterday, the report was produced by The People for Change Foundation, a human rights think tank. It highlights key developments in the areas of migration, racism and children’s rights over the course of 2013.
The report noted that in August, the Facebook page of EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was “inundated with racist and abusive comments” posted by Maltese people.
The abuse started after the Commissioner urged the Maltese government to allow the safe disembarkation of 102 irregular migrants on board the MV Salamis, a tanker that Malta was refusing to allow entry to its waters.
At the time, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), composed of NGOs, urged governments “to reinforce legislation to monitor hate on the internet and to adopt a zero tolerance policy to stigmatising comments likely to incite violence, racism, or other forms of discrimination”.
A further event highlighted in the report was the government’s threat to deport dozens of newly arrived Somalis in July without allowing them to apply for asylum in accordance with international law. The government was stopped from carrying out its threat by the European Court of Human Rights.
The swastika being replaced by the Maltese cross
A few public demonstrations were planned in support of the government’s stance.
“One of the pictures advertising a public demonstration against immigration disturbingly drew upon an emblem reminiscent of Nazi Germany, with the swastika being replaced by the Maltese cross,” the report pointed out.
In response to the perceived increase in racist and xenophobic discourse, the People for Change Foundation initiated a campaign urging MPs to sign a ‘Pledge for Dignity and Against Racism.’
It states that, among other commitments, signatories resolve to send a consistent and clear message that they reject racism in all its guises, that sensitive topics relating to migrant groups and ethnic minorities will be approached fairly and responsibly, and to condemn any material or statement which incite hatred or express prejudice.
To date, this pledge has been signed by 36 MPs and the foundation said it will be encouraging MEPs to sign it in the run-up to May’s European elections.
The UN refugee office in Malta estimates that just 30 per cent of all 18,625 asylum seekers and irregular migrants who have arrived on the island by boat since 2002 remain on the island.
Eighty-two per cent of last year’s arrivals were granted some form of protection.