‘Once, I Was Invited To A Child Wedding In Malta,’ Resident Recounts As Well-Known Community Secret Is Revealed
A local resident has opened up about an incident where they were invited to a wedding in Malta – only to find out that the bride was underage.
This comes after Maltese-Palestinian author Walid Nabhan revealed that child marriages and teenage births are happening in Malta – some on his very street in Ħamrun.
“Child marriages are a well-known secret, everyone knows they happen, but for some reason, the authorities don’t want to do anything about it,” they told Lovin Malta under condition of anonymity as they feared reprisals from within the community.
“Once I was invited to a wedding, I didn’t even know she was underage… and when I found out I left immediately. And this isn’t my experience only,” they confessed.
“For some reason, the authorities either don’t want to investigate, or they simply do not care.”
They also expressed their concerns about the lack of effort from Maltese authorities to help people from the Syrian community to integrate into Maltese society.
“The Maltese state and authorities are not involved and present enough when it comes to migrants. Abroad, they offer courses in the native language, the culture – in Malta nothing, they spend six months in Ħal Far and then they’re out on the streets, trying to integrate within society,” they said.
“We don’t have a system which promotes dialogue – why not? Cause they don’t have a vote, so the government doesn’t care to create dialogue and actually get closer to the people,” they lamented.
“The Syrian families have a lot of trauma and pain, but they’re good people, ready to work, but we need to be the ones to help them adapt to Malta’s system which is different from the Syrian system,” they said.
The Syrian community is currently at the centre of national discussion following a serious and violent brawl that erupted in the main street of Ħamrun yesterday, leaving two people injured.
Since then, members of the Syrian community of Malta have disassociated themselves from yesterday’s incident in Ħamrun, condemning any kind of violence that occurred.
Do you think more needs to be done by Malta’s authorities?
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