'We cannot allow racism to find fertile ground' - PN's message for World Refugee Day

“Man would have lost every sense of dignity when one discriminates against, and closes the door in the faces of those who are being persecuted because they have a different skin colour or a different belief from those of the majority in the country,” the PN’s message for World Refugee Day said.

In Malta there are also refugees among us, who had fled from their respective countries and were trying to or have found in Malta “the house that they never found in... This is the real test of every Maltese man and woman – that with these brothers in need we show solidarity, with facts, and not let racist and discriminatory sentiments find a fertile ground,” the PN said.

The PN called on the Nationalist government to continue pursuing an inclusive agenda and “to continue implementing in practice the solidarity principle, including with those who have found or are seeking to make Malta the home which they always yearned for but never had”.

However, this was the same government that has practice a detention policy with all asylum seekers ever since they started landing in Malta in the early 2000s. At the same time, the PN called on the Maltese people “to recognise the hospitality that Malta is known for" and that "we should also accept those who are hungry and have been persecuted in their home countries”.

The PN explained that it was indeed true that the size of our country was “too small to accept a larger amount of refugees more than we possibly could accept as our resources are limited”. However, in a departure from government policy, the PN insisted that “it would be a mistake to use this as an excuse to close our doors to those who are needy... When we do this, we would be losing all our dignity and everything that makes us a generous people and with a strong sense of solidarity and social justice."