[SLIDESHOW] Open 'interactive' day held at Marsa open centre

The Marsa open centre today opened its doors to the public giving people from different cultural and social backgrounds to interact.

A number of activities were set up for the day, including a football match, a number of food stands offering food from a number of countries and street art live music.

Minister for Social Dialogue and Civil Liberties Helena Dalli paid a visit to the centre and in comments to MaltaToday she expressed her satisfaction at the opportunity provided by such events.

"This is a good excercise which sees multiculturalism in action in the different cultural and social contexts," she said.

The event was organised through a youth in action programme, presenting those present, mostly young people, an opportunity to interact and understand different cultures through food, music and sport.

Asked whether enough is being done for the integration of asylum seekers, Dalli said "Integration comes from both ends, migrants need to accept, understand and experience Maltese culture. On the other hand Maltese have a lot to learn from other cultures, which as can be seen here today are diverse and very interesting."

US ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley also paid a visit and was given a tour of the centre by Ahmed Bugri, the centre's director.

A number of migrants approached Abercrombie-Winstanley and expressed their desire to move to the US. In recent years the US has taken some 2,000 refugees from Malta.