This column first appeared in Malta Today

You’ve got to hand it to the dynamic duo of Robert Abela/Clyde Caruana.

The Prime Minister was adamant to fulfill his electoral promises (particularly the infamous €1000 for each worker) and with so much of his war chest being squandered on retaining fuel subsidies and other handouts, the money had to be found from somewhere. The Finance Minister burned the midnight oil and quickly became the Robin to his Batman and together they came up with what seemed, on paper, like an ingenious solution.

Introducing more taxes on the Maltese was considered inconceivable (and would have been political suicide) but what was one demographic which could be taxed and would not cause any potential damage to future electoral chances? I imagine there was a lightbulb moment when they hit on their cunning plan to introduce what are, frankly, discriminatory, punitive measures on the poorest people among us. As the implications of what these measures will mean for Third Country Nationals began to sink in, the sight of Abela patronisingly telling Caruana, “let me give you a hug” was nauseating.

Even more nauseating were the celebrations all over social media. I have never seen such widespread spite and malice in my life, which is perfectly described in that untranslatable Maltese word “ħdura”. For once it was not PN vs PL because this issue has cut through all party lines and former adversaries found themselves, much to their mutual astonishment, on the same side for perhaps the first time. Emboldened by each other, all those who hate the very sight of TCNs (which in most people’s minds are only Indians, Nepalese, Pakistani and Filipinos), felt justified in spewing their venomous hatred.

Inevitably, those who reacted in dismay and anger against this discrimination soon found themselves sitting targets as well. It swiftly became “us against them” and lines were drawn. Those of us who are objecting to vulnerable people being treated unjustly; people who continue to be deliberately recruited from Dubai and the Philippines, are accused of being traitors. It must take a lot of mental gymnastics to arrive at such a conclusion. I always assumed that Labour was a left-wing party which fights for workers’ rights and advocates for those less privileged, but overnight it seems to have switched its ideology into a hardcore, fascist right-wing party – Trump would be so proud.

I wonder if Abela is patting himself on the back for creating this national outpouring of hate. In one fell swoop, he has managed to exploit a very real and ugly side of human nature – envy and spite. I thought racist comments before this used to be bad, but since the Budget they have taken on an even more menacing undertone. It is not simply that they don’t like “them” because of their ethnicity and the colour of their skin, but it seems to rankle greatly with some people because “they” are getting things for free. How DARE they think they can be our equals? It is as if by enjoying the same benefits as we do, these foreign workers are somehow taking something away from the Maltese. I am still struggling to understand what difference it should make to anyone’s life if an Indian toddler has free childcare, and if his mother then rides the bus for free to work a gruelling shift at a care home where so many are taking care of our elderly relatives. 

But from the comments I’ve read, it seems this is what irks people the most – the fact that the “barranin” are on an equal footing because as residents who are paying tax, they qualify for everything for free, like we do. That is why there was such grim satisfaction that these pesky foreigners are finally getting their comeuppance. HEKK! Remove their privileges, make them pay, and that way we can feel better because this is our country and we should be several rungs up the ladder from these people who have “invaded” us. If you try and use reason and point out that this is blatant discrimination, you are met with verbal abuse.

The other bugbear seems to be because they send money back home to support their families, so they are “not contributing to the economy”. So now, not only do we bring people here to work in jobs which the locals do not want to do, but we are going to dictate how they spend their hard-earned wages too. This perception is not even correct: if we just look at how much they spend on accommodation it is enough; greedy landlords who are renting bed spaces at €300 euros per bed are pocketing an enormous amount of money. Do we ask where these landlords are spending it? The fact that restaurants, supermarkets and shopping malls are always full, concerts are well-attended, children are sent to pricey private schools and extra-curricular activities and expensive focaccias and Starbucks became trendy means that there is plenty of money circulating in the economy. Even more ironically, maybe those who have become quite wealthy off the backs of non-EU workers are spending their money in Sicily where they bought a property, or hopping on cheap flights every month to spend their money all over Europe and the rest of the world.

The sad thing is that this whole controversy is even dividing families, because there are so many differing views on the subject. The Green Ribbon project, to show solidarity with TCNs was countered by people putting up a red and white ribbon to symbolise the Maltese flag, and their patriotism. It has become the war of the ribbons and totally unnecessary. The bickering is turning nasty and some people are simply not thinking straight – their emotions have got the better of them and they can only see it in terms of black and white. But nothing is ever cut and dried and what we have here are more shades of grey than the famous book.

So, let’s start with one thing most people agree on – we are over-populated and this has created many infrastructural problems because the country cannot cope with this many people. But it seems to me that people either have short memories or a selective one, or are in complete denial. Let me rewind the clock back to 2017 when the person who was the head of JobsPlus, the very same Clyde Caruana, told us:

“We have maximised the potential of the Maltese labour force with a number of measures. And over the past few years we attracted thousands of foreigners to augment local workers too. Attracting them again, and in larger numbers, is a top priority now…I can’t stress enough how important bringing in these workers is for our economy.”

The same mantra was repeated again and again by his boss, the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and now by Robert Abela.

But despite what some politicians believe, man does not live on the economy alone. A person’s quality of life relies on factors such as good air quality, open spaces and reliable infrastructure. When the strain in all these areas began to be felt, the pointing of the fingers began and the first ones to be blamed were, predictably “the foreigners”, the very people who had been brought in to purportedly save Malta from economic collapse (Clyde Caruana’s words not mine). What both Muscat and Caruana were counting on, however, was that these workers would be transient.

“The majority do not stay here long enough to accumulate any kind of pension rights, they don’t really become a burden on the State. They are here to work,” Caruana said at the time.

The gross miscalculations, apart from the sheer arrogance of referring to foreign workers as disposable, replaceable, interchangeable cogs in Malta’s economic wheel were already apparent almost a decade ago. It probably never occurred to these short-sighted men that TCNs would put down roots and start families, or else apply for family reunification. But now the chickens have come home to roost.

Rather than addressing the problem by putting a halt to new work permits in non-essential sectors, this government’s answer is to turn people’s lives upside down overnight. It has briefly placated the Maltese who are under the impression that there will be a mass exodus (there won’t) and in the process it has successfully turned the public tide against TCNs whose only “crime” was to accept a job on an island which promised them a better life. Meanwhile the PM keeps inaugurating new establishments all of which require staff.

This could have been handled in a much more socially just way. If the free transport system is unsustainable, it should be completely removed for everyone and kept as low as possible, even a mere 50 cents each; but to single out a specific demographic, which happens to be the poorest, is simply cruel. What’s more, making only TCNs pay won’t make the buses less crowded. The hike in prices for the various work permits and the new infrastructure fee should come into effect only for those who are not yet in Malta. At least they would know what they are getting into and they can decide not to come. But to punish those who are already here is diabolical.

Perhaps the most malicious measure is the extra payment of €83 per month to “allow” TCNs to drive a car. I can’t picture those needing to drive to get to work having to fork out this additional expense. After paying their rent and utilities, how are they supposed to afford groceries? If anyone thinks this will reduce traffic it won’t – in order to do that, they should have applied it across the board making driving a car more expensive for everyone. It seems we don’t want these workers to crowd our buses, we don’t want them to drive a car, and Malta would probably panic to see thousands of people walking along the road. So how do we expect these workers to get to their place of work every day?

Then it hit me that this is exactly the thinking behind this heartless Budget. They want to drive the current workers out, especially those with families, and replace them. Non-EU workers will do as Clyde has always wanted: single people will come for a brief amount of time and after having paid an exorbitant amount for the various permits, courses and these newly introduced fees, they won’t be able to survive and they will leave. This revolving door policy is the definition of inhumane.

Speaking for myself, that €1k is starting to feel like dirty money.
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