Malta: A Janus Faced Migration and Integration Policy

An emigrant island state for most of the post-World War II period, Malta started becoming a net immigrant country from the mid-eighties. “Regular” and “irregular” immigrant trends picked up pace at the turn of the millennium and accelerated from 2015. Maltese society which was used to emigration struggled to accept the phenomenon of mixed immigration. A fully fletched integration policy launched in 2017 was aimed at all immigrant types. Public opinion in Malta has remained consistently concerned about immigration, but more resentful of the irregular arrivals such as those rescued in Malta’s maritime Search and Rescue Area (SAR), than towards those who are purposely imported to address skill or labour shortages in key economic areas. EU-EEA citizens who are entitled to live and work in Malta on the basis of the Union’s free movement of labour rules also raise fewer concerns. This chapter summarizes some of the key patterns of Maltese immigration, the main motors of the phenomenon, official reactions and policy developments and the way Malta has sought to “securitize” the phenomenon and enlist the EU’s aid in order to keep irregular migrants at bay while keeping the door open for select third country and EU citizens.