Prime Minister Joseph Muscat highlighted the need for full integration of people with a disability on the workplace as part of his Christmas message this evening. 

The Prime Minister addressed a small crowd in De Valette Square in Valletta during the annual Milied Flimkien (Christmas Together), alongside the President, the Opposition leader and the Archbishop.

Dr Muscat said great strides had been made on integrating students with a disability into mainstream classrooms, ending the segregation of the past, but added that these advances had not yet been seen in adult life.

“Although social services are important, we have to ensure that people with a disability do not remain dependent but achieve full dignity on the workplace,” he said.

In his address, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil expressed solidarity with the Saint James Hospital manager who was abducted in Libya, as well as workers at De La Rue currently facing uncertainty due to redundancies, and the family of a man who lost his life in a Rabat quarry earlier in the day.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca drew attention to the plight of children spending Christmas in residential homes, as well as those whose parents had passed away or were in prison.

She also commended local parishes and organisations organising meals for the elderly and others in the community who felt isolated or alone. Meanwhile,

Archbishop Charles Scicluna called for “words of kindness and love” to replace hatred and divisive acts in social discourse.

“The acts of terror in recent weeks have filled us all with a sense of fear, so it is all the more important for us to remember Christ’s message of love and mercy at this time of year,” he said.