Key Findings
Best practice (100% score)
Political liberties for political participation
Favourable
Eligibility for, and rights associated with, long-term residence
Unfavourable
Political participation policies, especially consultative bodies
Fields of application of anti-discrimination law
Security of nationality
Critically unfavourable (0% score)
Labour market integration measures
Eligibility for access to nationality
Electoral rights and implementation policies for political participation
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Overview
In Malta, citizens of other EU countries outnumber legally-resident non-EU citizens (hereafter migrants), at a rate of 2 to 1. The legal immigration of third-country nationals was just 1,913 in 2004. The government estimates that in 2005, about the same number came to Malta irregularly. Malta's growing asylum seeker and refugee population is modest in raw numbers, but one of Europe's highest as a percentage of the population.
Irregular migration flows and the law of the sea have fuelled rather alarmist media and public debates. Malta recently introduced integration policies, largely targeted at refugees. The government did most on these issues when required to transpose EC Directives on anti-discrimination and long-term residence. Calls for higher penalties for racial and religiouslymotivated offences are especially pertinent given several xenephobic arson attacks.
Malta's strongest policy areas are family reunion and long-term residence. Access to nationality ranks 24th out of the 28 MIPEX countries. Only LV scores worse than Malta on both labour market access and anti-discrimination. Political participation is the lowest-scoring strand for Malta, as for several other European countries.
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Integration Policy Timeline
10/2005
National Reform Programme and Strategy for Growth and Jobs proposed short labour market integration course and reassessment of employment policies for migrants based on labour-market-needs
26/10/2005
Draft pieces of legislation transposing EC Directives on long-term residents and on family reunion introduced
17/11/2006
Legal Notice 278 of 2006 on Status of Long-term residents regulation enacted
02/2007
Ministry for Family and Social Solidarity inaugurated Organisation for Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers (OIWAS)
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Migrant Profile
