The Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin said today it had collected over 10,000 signatures petitioning the government not to 'burden' the Maltese population with 'forced integration of migrants.'

Speaking just before a corner meeting at City Gate, Valletta, this morning organisation secretary general Henry Battistino said they started collecting signatures about five months ago with the ultimate aim of pushing for a referendum on the matter.

Mr Battistino and organisation leader Alex Pisani insisted that Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin was not driven by racist sentiments.

“Calling us racist is a trick of the liberals to shut us up. We are not racists. We condemn racism,” Mr Battistino said.  

“If the Maltese are happy with this integration and want Malta to change, then they can voice this in the referendum. We are not here to silence anyone,” he insisted.  

Mr Pisani observed that neither of the two major political parties mentioned the word “integration” in their electoral manifestos. Now Malta had committed itself with the EU to take on its quota of migrants when other countries were refusing.

“What we are saying is that Malta is too small. We believe in helping migrants. But we believe that this is best done by helping them solve the situation at home,” he said.