More than a thousand Maltese citizens living in Australia have signed a petition, launched just last week, against the Maltese government’s controversial cash-for-citizenship scheme.

The petition has been organised by new committee called Maltese Pride. It calls on the Maltese government to reconsider the scheme because it is inflicting “incalculable harm” on Malta’s reputation abroad.

The petitioners say they are “extremely proud of their Maltese citizenship acquired as a birth right” and that Maltese citizens in Australia are “dismayed at the government’s action in placing Maltese citizenship for sale on the open market”.

Interest among Maltese-Australians in acquiring a Maltese passport increased substantially following the island’s accession to the EU. This passport is only given to those who are direct descendants of Maltese.

More in the Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium 

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