Maltese people in UK ‘targeted by racist abuse’ after Brexit vote

Maltese immigrants to the United Kingdom have warned that they have become targets of racist abuse in the build-up and aftermath of the Brexit referendum.

On a public Facebook group for Maltese immigrants to the UK, Pauline Galea Gingell said that she faces racist abuse everyday.

“I can’t get a job, because when I tell them my nationality, they see my as an immigrant,” she wrote.

Theresa Attard said that people told her to “go home” when they heard her speaking Maltese to her husband, while Matthew Camilleri said that one his roommates recently stopped talking to the non-British ones. 

Maria Ann Formosa said that people have recently started treating her husband differently “because he has a strong accent and doesn’t look English”.

“My husband has been here 40 years and people have been treating him differently in the last few months…one of the problems with Maltese people criticising immigrants is that to your average British person, we just fit into the ‘foreign’ category.”

Isaac Camilleri said that he was on the receiving end of a racist comment during a bus ride in Bristol. “I have been here for five years and had nothing up until now and I kind of feel scared almost venturing out,” he said.

The UK National Police Chiefs’ Council warned there has been a surge in hate crimes since last weeks referendum – 85 incidents were reported between Thursday and Sunday, compared with 54 during the same period four weeks ago.

Outgoing prime minister David Cameron today condemned “despicable” xenophobic abuse and hate crime.

“In the past few days we have seen despicable graffiti daubed on a Polish community centre, we’ve seen verbal abuse hurled against individuals because they are members of ethnic minorities.

“Let’s remember that these people have come here and made a wonderful contribution to our country. We will not stand for hate crime or these kind of attacks, they must be stamped out.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he had put the capital’s police on alert for racially-motivated incidents, following the referendum.

“It’s really important we stand guard against any rise in hate crimes or abuse by those who might use last week’s referendum as cover to seek to divide us,” he said.