Illegal immigrants suffering from Maltese xenophobia

Irene Hernández Velasco, special correspondent for the daily in Malta, explains that the island's population nurtures strong resent towards illegal immigrants who arrive via the sea. "This little country with a surface of just 316 square metres ... proudly boasts the greatest majority of Catholics in the world: 99% of Maltese people say they are of this faith. ... However, a survey published last year by the Malta Times reveals that 90% of the inhabitants in ultra-catholic Malta do not wish to have Arab, Jewish or African neighbours. On such fertile grounds, it is no surprise that parties with xenophobic ideology are rife in Malta with The National Republican Alliance, for example, is an organsiation that has used the rejection of immigrants as one of its most defining features."

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