Migration: 63% of Maltese think it’s a ‘problem’

The survey shows that the Maltese are among the least in Europe to interact with immigrants

Nearly two thirds of the Maltese (63%) think that immigration is more of a problem than an opportunity, a Eurobarometer survey reveals.

Moreover three in every four (75%) in Malta consider immigrants as a burden on their welfare system and nearly eight in 10 (79%) think that immigrants worsen the crime problem in their country. 63% of Maltese think that immigrants take away jobs from native workers.

Respondents participating in the survey were given a definition of immigrants as persons born outside of the EU. The survey also shows that a relative majority (36%) of the Maltese think that there are more illegal than legal immigrants in Malta.

The negative opinion that the Maltese have on immigration could reflect the lack of contact with immigrants. The survey shows that the Maltese are among the least in Europe to interact with immigrants. 31% of the Maltese interact with immigrants ‘less than once a year or never’ in childcare centres, schools or universities.

The survey finds that in Hungary, Malta and Greece over six in ten respondents think that immigration is more of a problem, as do over half of those polled in Slovakia (54%), Bulgaria (52%) and Italy (51%), and half of respondents in Cyprus (50%).

In all other countries, this view is expressed by a minority ranging from nearly half of those polled in the Czech Republic (49%) to less than a fifth of respondents in Luxembourg (17%) and Sweden (19%).

The survey shows that in countries with a low proportion of immigrants, such as Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, a greater proportion of respondents see immigrants as a problem, while in countries with a relatively high proportion of immigrants, such as Luxembourg, Sweden and Denmark, significantly fewer see immigration as a problem.    

Only 28% of the Maltese think that immigrants enrich Malta’s cultural life. The Maltese were only second to the Bulgarians (29%) in expressing this opinion. This is in deep contrast with the views of other Europeans. In 17 of the 28 Member States, more than half of respondents agree with the statement. This ranges from just over half of respondents in Slovenia (51%), Estonia (51%) and Poland (52%) to over nine in ten (93%) of those polled in Sweden.

Malta was one of 14 EU countries where less than half of those polled agree integration is successful in their country. The percentage varied between under a quarter (24%) of respondents in Bulgaria to nearly half (49%) of those surveyed in France, Greece, Malta and Slovakia.

This contrasts with Ireland where 80% think that integration is successful in their country.

Only 35% of Maltese think that the acquisition of citizenship is important for integration. This contrasts with the view of citizens in 24 Member States in which a majority of respondents think it is important. In Slovenia, Spain and Ireland over 80% think that granting citizenship is important for integration. 60% of the Maltese do not consider granting immigrants the vote in local election as beneficial to their integration.