A study published on Friday found that most Maltese believe migrants contribute nothing to Maltese society. These three beg to differ. Bertrand Borg reports.
Yonas Oukubamichael, 29, is checking his e-mail when we meet at his restaurant in Ħamrun. Opened just over a year ago, the cosy eatery offers typical Eritrean cuisine at prices which put the rival Turkish kebab take-away to shame.
Locals complain about migrants, saying none of them work and just take government money. But I’m living proof that’s not true
“I’m in the process of opening a bigger, more professional restaurant in Bugibba. It’s a lot of work and a lot of money, but it’s also very exciting,” he says.
Mr Oukubamichael came to Malta eight years ago, fleeing war and persecution in his native Eritrea. He has since carved out a life for himself in Malta, making it his home.
“My Maltese friends would always ask me what Eritrean food was like, so I would cook for them. Eventually I was cooking so much that it just made sense to open a restaurant!” he jokes.
Not that it was easy, he adds. Getting the necessary permits was a nightmare. In Malta you need an ID card to do anything, and the moment any official sees mine, the problems start.
He whips out his Maltese ID card. It is like any other ID card, except for the bold black script ‘FOR USE IN MALTA ONLY – NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL’.
An EU-wide survey published last Friday found that more than half of all Maltese felt migrants had nothing positive to contribute to Maltese society.
The suggestion affronts him. “I used to work 18 hours a day, at a vegetable shop during the day and as a dishwasher at night. Eventually I saved up enough money to branch out on my own. I pay tax, always make rent... and I’ve introduced lots of Maltese to ingera [Ethiopian flat bread]!”
Lawand Khaled-Khaled, a 32-year-old Syrian refugee who’s been in Malta for 10 years, has a similar story to tell.
“I started working as soon as I was released from detention. I was a chef at first, until I broke my leg badly and couldn’t stand up for long periods of time.”
Nowadays, Mr Khaled-Khaled works as a shopkeeper at a local hotel while running his own plastering and renovation business on the side. He says the survey result, revealing Maltese scepticism towards migrants, doesn’t surprise him.
“Locals often don’t realise I’m not from here,” he says in fluent Maltese. “They start complaining about migrants, saying none of them work and just take government money. But I’m living proof that’s not true.”
He recalls the trouble his broken leg had caused him. “I was confined to a bed for seven months and in crutches for another four. I couldn’t work, but I wasn’t given a single cent in subsistence money by the government. It was hell,” he confesses.
Showing me the €81.48 monthly chequehis unemployed sister receives, Mr Oukubamichael said: “She has to go to Ħal-Far to sign three times a week. She was sick one week so couldn’t sign, and that month she got €40. What can you do with €40 a month?”
Over in Swatar, 30-year-old hairdresser Nicky Okpara is busy tending to her clients’ hair. Ms Okpara came to Malta from Nigeria 14 years ago.
“I’ve been a hairdresser for about a decade now, but only opened my own salon two years ago, just after I got refugee status. I couldn’t open up my own business before that,” she says, switching effortlessly between Maltese and English. With a Malta-born son and a Maltese employee working at her salon, the suggestion that she contributes nothing to Maltese society makes her sigh.
“Malta is home now, and I pay just as much VAT or National Insurance as anyone else.”
“I’d say 90 per cent of my friends are Maltese – not that I keep tabs! But in my experience, location is really important. I enjoyed living in Birkirkara or St Venera but got so much racial abuse in Buġibba I had to leave after three months.”
As she speaks, a Maltese woman walks into the salon, ready for Ms Okpara to work her magic for her Saturday night hairdo.
Ms Okpara makes her excuses to get back to work. “As long as you find your own space, you can live a decent life here.”