Dear prime minister, do not normalise xenophobia

This leader is not about the Nationalist Party’s constitutional amendment to introduce the right to a healthy and unsustainable environment and the backlash the proposal received from several unlikely quarters. We have already commented about this.

Neither is this leader about the type of backlash received and whether it was justified or exaggerated.

This leader is about Prime Minister Robert Abela’s reaction on Sunday and his xenophobic remarks to justify his government’s opposition to the PN proposal.

The media did not misinterpret or twist Abela’s words when reporting what he said about foreigners wanting to stop traditional hobbies. Twice, the prime minister used the word ‘foreigners’ to underscore his point. The emphasis on the word ‘foreigner’ was not casual or careless but intentional.

Abela could have chosen the more generic term ‘people’ to refer to those who would want to use the now defeated constitutional amendment to ‘stop traditional hobbies’.

After all, there are Maltese individuals—pet owners, elderly people, couples with young children, bedridden individuals—who also complain about the excessive noise caused by festa petards. There are Maltese individuals who dislike hunting and would rather see this hobby end. There are Maltese Birżebbuġa residents who would rather not have a motorsport racing track next door to their homes. There are Maltese people who would want a clamp down on excessive night time music from clubs and open-air venues.

But no, Abela used none of these equally valid examples to sustain his claim. Instead, Abela specifically singled out foreigners as those who could potentially pose a threat to traditional hobbies. It was deliberate and no sugar coating by some of Abela’s acolytes will change that fact.

The prime minister set up foreigners as a direct target for the wrath of hobbyists because it is easier to pit Maltese hobbyists against anonymous foreigners than fellow Maltese. Abela’s intention was more than clear to see for those who have eyes. He was shamelessly xenophobic because it suited his narrow political agenda.

When confronted by MaltaToday about his remarks, Abela later admitted that he could have used other examples to sustain his criticism of the PN proposal. He went on to explain that the PN amendment would have pitted one section of society against another irrespective of nationality. He then defended his government’s track record on dealing with foreigners, citing the labour migration policy as a tool to ensure dignified work conditions for foreigners in Malta.

Abela’s explanation was an attempt to mitigate the backlash on his remarks from none other than former ONE News editor Sandro Mangion, who called for more empathy towards foreigners from a “socialist”. Nonetheless, Abela’s clarification did not address the core issue of xenophobia.

Abela and people in authority like him should be careful of normalising xenophobia because when that happens it only becomes a short road to the tragic consequences witnessed six years ago when Ivorian Lassane Cisse was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Ħal Far.

Cisse was killed simply because he was black. It was the first racially-motivated murder that shocked the nation. At the time, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had warned against the “poison” spread by extremists and what he described as the “more refined narrative of us-versus-them”.

And yet, on Sunday we witnessed a prime minister who chose to pander to that very same narrative by pitting Maltese and foreigners against each other. It’s the last thing we need in a country where the frustration with overpopulation—some justified, some borne out of racist sentiments—risks becoming a flashpoint.

The prime minister should have known better than pushing his finger on society’s pressure point and using foreigners to symbolise the alleged threat to traditions posed by the botched PN amendment.

Foreigners live, work and pay their taxes in Malta. They fulfil jobs that would otherwise remain vacant. They have contributed to this country’s prosperity over the past decade. While they are here, they enjoy the same rights and obligations as Maltese nationals.

If there are too many of them, it is definitely not their fault. The vast majority of foreigners are in Malta because we invited them here to contribute to our economy.

And while we believe the Maltese State must take back control of labour migration management to limit population increase to what is strictly necessary, we also advocate for empathy, respect and dignity towards foreigners, something that was missing from Abela’s words on Sunday.