What Do You Think? a Report on Public Perception About Refugees And

What do YOU think? A report on public perception about refugees and migrants in Malta 2012 Contents Foreword Summary report Sample structure “Comments” Beyond assumptions 4-5 14-15 Back page O ver the years much has been said about what people in Malta think about refugees and migrants. Politicians and journal- ists air their opinions, often with reference to the views of the Jon Hoisaeter UNHCR Malta Representative population. Bloggers and online commentators frequently talk WHAT DO YOU THINK ? - A PUBLIC PERCEPTION REPORT - 2012 about migration challenges from a ‘Malta perspective’. Some go much further to discredit people sweepingly labelled as ‘illegal migrants’, at times using derogatory and xenophobic language. How representative are these views? Are we getting the whole Field work: picture from hearing mainly the loudest voices? At UNHCR we 6-7 WHAT’S IN A WORD? 400 net respondents have felt the need to test some of the assumptions often made. were interviewed face- to-face across Malta and The only way to find out is to ask the people themselves. There- How some key concepts are understood by the general Gozo in January 2012 by fore, we have worked with an independent research agency, to Informa Consultants reach out to 400 households in Malta – house by house, face public. to face. People of different ages and backgrounds were ap- proached. Every region, from Gozo to Marsaxlokk, is represent- Report prepared and ed. This report is about the answers we received. compiled: Informa Con- sultants & UNHCR Malta 8-9 LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY Some outcomes were more or less what we had expected. Other findings were less predictable. Read more about this in the sur- Provisional version vey summary on the next page. Layout and Design: How refugees and migrants who are staying in local com- At UNHCR we take several lessons from this survey. Firstly it is UNHCR Malta munities are perceived. safe to say that, when it comes to attitudes among the Maltese, the picture appears more complex compared with how these views are often portrayed by the media. The survey also shows that the majority are not in fact very concerned that their way of life is under threat from migration. The results do, however, also 10-11 MEET THE OTHER raise points which illustrate problems within Maltese communities. These issues need to be taken seriously. The survey shows that many people in this country are conscious Whether and how there is interaction with local communi- of what it takes to promote positive integration in local communities. ties. This is not a bad starting point for increased interaction and dialogue. At the same time almost half of the population in Malta have never spoken to someone they would consider to be a Contact: refugee or a migrant. INTEGRATION? UNHCR Malta, 72, Mar- 12-13 ket Street, Floriana FRN “The majority of the We are acutely aware that there is still a job to do in Malta, both 1080, Malta in terms of listening to local communities and in terms of provid- Maltese are not in fact ing information and support to new residents in this country. We The main obstacles to successful integration, and how to Tel: +356 2248 9400 worried that their way think this needs to be a joint effort by authorities, civil society as E-mail: [email protected] address these obstacles. of life is under threat well as the general public. WWW.UNHCR.ORG.MT from migration.” What do you think? 2 3 In a few words Who did the study? Who was interviewed? What we asked? More than 43% of the respondents said they had never had any form of interaction Informa Consultants were The survey included random- The survey was based on with any refugees or migrants. On a more positive note, more than half of those surveyed commissioned to interview ly selected respondents over a mix of open choice (OC) reported to have spoken with a refugee or migrant at least once during the past year, one in four said 400 face-to-face respond- 16 years of age that have and multiple choice (MC) the same for the last week before the survey. Most of the interaction with refugees and migrants was ents across Malta and Gozo been living as residents in questions. The study has a reported to take place in relation to work, in the street and in shops. during January 2012 in both Malta for at least two years. general margin of error of +/- Maltese and English. 4.9%. The words ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ are frequently in use by various media. But do most people know what they actually mean? In fact, more than 51% of respondents were able to distinguish between the two terms. However, the majority suggested that ‘refugees’ and ‘migrants’ originate mainly from the same areas (Africa, Libya and Somalia). After a What were the answers? decade of boat arrivals from Libya, it is perhaps to be expected that the Maltese population thinks of asylum seekers when they encounter the word ‘migrant’, although there are several other groups of non-EU residents present in Malta. The survey confirmed that there are many different views and opinions ‘out there’. From UNHCR’s perspective there were some very interesting findings. Some of these points are highlighted below, A majority of 58% agreed with the statement that “people coming to Malta should change while the detailed results from a range of specific questions are presented in the following pages. their ways to be more like other Maltese citizens.” The main elements that could define successful integration, and ultimately naturalization through citizenship, were identified by the Just over 50% of the respondents indicate that they think there are too many migrants majority as: “clean criminal record”, “duration of stay” and “work”. Almost half of the respondents said and refugees arriving in their locality. It is interesting to note that less than half of the peo- that migrants and refugees can contribute to Maltese society by “working legally” and “paying taxes”. ple asked were in fact aware of any such individuals living in their own communities. Around 20% Take a look at the back page of this report to read some of the comments made on this question. said that their major concern relating to migration is Malta’s limited size. But according to the survey almost half those asked do not in fact consider that there are too many refugees and migrants arriv- According to those surveyed, people of sub-Saharan African background are con- ing in their communities. sidered as the least likely to settle successfully in Malta, with around 46% citing “different culture” as the main obstacle in this regard. Many respondents expressed the view that Concerns about ‘too many migrants’ do not necessarily translate into worries about threats to local the Maltese are reserved about mixing with people of different cultures. In fact almost two thirds of community life. In fact a majority of 54% do not consider migration to be a threat to respondents think that “only a few” or ‘hardly anyone’ in Malta accept such differences. their way of life in the local community. There are, however, significant regional differences on this point. The survey also found that young respondents generally expressed less concern. But more than one third of the Maltese agree that a mixture of different lifestyles and cultures, such as those brought about by refugees and migrants, makes Survey respondents who live in localities close to Hal Far did express a higher degree Malta a more attractive place to live. Many of those interviewed also showed understand- about negative impact on the local way of life due to the presence of refugees and of concern ing as regards the hardship some refugees and migrants are faced with: migrants. It is perhaps not surprising that in areas dominated by the larger temporary accommoda- approximately 80% of respondents believe that refugees and migrants are not treated fairly when looking for tion and detention centres are concerned about the effect on local communi- more than 70% jobs. A large majority also acknowledge that they face discrimination in searching for accommoda- ties. By comparison the perception of threat drops very significally among respondents living in the tion. There appears to be strong general awareness about obstacles and discrimination affecting northern and central areas of Malta as well as in Gozo. refugees and migrants who try to settle in Malta. 51.0% 36.4% 29.8% 67.8% 46.4% 78.3% said that a refugee is a per- said that interaction with said that refugees and do not know any refugees or identified “different cul- agreed that refugees and son fleeing his country, refugees and migrants is migrants can contribute by migrants personally ture” as the main barrier to migrants would need spe- seeking refugee or in need happening at work working legally in Malta integration cial programmes of sup- of help. port in Malta. 4 5 How easily do you think the following groups of people would settle into your community? What’s in a word? 5 What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear .... ? (OC) Very Migrants and refugees from Western European Easy sub-saharan African coun- migrants were per- tries were perceived as the ceived as more likely Newcomers least likely to settle easily in to settle in Malta with from Malta “Refugee” From where do you think Africa refugees come from? (OC) 4 Malta ease Somalia 51.0% Libya Said that a refugee is a person fleeing his country, Eritrea seeking refuge or in need North Africa 3 Eastern of help.

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