‘Our Work Doesn’t Stop Here’, Young Maltese Activist Eager To Continue Fighting For Migrants Despite Facing Hate Comments
The decision to allow over 400 migrants to enter Malta last night is just the first step towards decency, according to 18-year-old activist Xandru Cassar.
“It was a sensible move that should have happened a long time ago,” Cassar told Lovin Malta.
“To keep them in those conditions for weeks on end was not the right thing to do. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that there was an uprising, they didn’t have access to lawyers, doctors, or psychological help…they had nothing.”
Cassar made national news back in April when he camped outside Castille to protest the government’s decision to close its ports to migrants seeking asylum in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, he has been at the forefront of migrant demonstrations and most recently hosted a Fibonacci protest to draw attention to the migrants who were being kept aboard private vessels outside Malta’s waters.
However, his efforts drew a lot of criticism which boiled over last night when Gozo Channel Chairman Joe Cordina commented ‘FUCK YOU’ on the 18-year-old’s Facebook profile after it was announced that Malta will be taking in migrant vessels.
“To be honest, you have to expect these things,” Cassar continued.
“It’s good to keep everyone grounded – our work doesn’t stop here and there are wider issues to keep in mind.”
Civil Society NGO Repubblika has since called for a hate crime investigation into Cordina’s comments, labelling them as ‘unacceptable’, and has also asked him to resign from his role.
“The tragedy of all of this is that the most unreserved make their voice the loudest on social media. The people who are using degrading language drown out the good initiatives,” said Cassar.
Xandru Cassar and fellow activists protesting out Parliament
Though Cassar succeeded in his campaign to bring the migrants to shore, the young activist recognises that Malta has a lot of work to do before it can have a mature discussion on the topic.
“There are two things we need to tackle. The first is the misconception on why these people have to flee their country which has been significantly underreported leading to a lot of people being unaware of the circumstances.”
“The second is developing an environment where people can engage on these topics in a civil manner. When people in office or high positions use degrading language, it’s not surprising that the general public echoes such elements too. If we don’t start from the top we can’t expect it to happen at the bottom.”
Within the context of Malta’s migrant issue, the world is coming to grips with the overt reality of racism following the murder of George Floyd in the hands of a police officer. An anti-racism sit-in is being held outside Parliament tomorrow to show solidarity with the black lives matters movement.
“I was positively impressed by how many people reached out over the few weeks and how many people are thanking me and telling me to keep strong. “Hopefully these sorts of initiatives made a few more young people conscious,” Cassar ended.
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