A survey conducted by MaltaToday during the past week shows that the greatest concern the Maltese people have about migration by 'boat people' is the fear of being "invaded" or seeing their country "taken over" by migrants.
The survey also shows that a majority of respondents (55%) support the pushback policy considered by the new Labour government in July, before it was stopped by the European Court of Human Rights, which had already ruled such a policy illegal when practised by Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing government in Italy.
Although the survey shows that the majority of respondents have a clear idea about the number of arrivals in the past months and years, 60% wrongly believe that the number of migrants arriving in the first seven months of the year exceeded arrivals in the same period in any year during the past decade. This suggests that the political drama over the past weeks has created the impression of a record number of arrivals, even though the number did not surpass arrivals in 2006, 2008 and 2011 and only slightly surpassed those in 2012.
The survey reveals that the Maltese, who often lament the EU's lack of solidarity towards Malta, are largely unaware that Malta received €100 million in funds related to migration in the past decade. Malta will also be receiving €80 million in similar funds in the period covered by the 2014-2020 budget. Although funding does not compensate for the lack of a solidarity mechanism and the burden put on countries like Malta by the Dublin II Treaty (which restricts the free movement of asylum seekers in Europe), the lack of knowledge about EU assistance in this sector could exacerbate anti-EU sentiment on this issue.
