Migration, identity and integration : a case study of the multi-ethnic reality in the Maltese islands

Abstract

Immigration to the European Union is on the rise and the islands of Malta are of no exception. While immigration has been part of the Maltese reality for centuries, since the early 2000s, the island state of Malta has increasingly moved into the international spotlight as a front-line state for immigration, with newcomers arriving mainly from Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Whilst part of this immigration is coming from the African continent, other arrivals have been coming both from within the European Union (EU) and of third-country nationals most of which come to Malta with the prospect of a better future in Europe, in the hope of finding better job opportunities and a better quality of life. This work sheds light on voluntary migration - focusing mostly on youth migration - identity, and integration. It presents a case study of Malta as an epitome of multiculturalism. (1) It analyses the “push-and-pull factors” behind the decisions that migrants make before deciding to move to another country; (2) it studies how immigrants define their identity within a Maltese context; (3) it examines the relationship between the migratory process and identity formation; (4) it analyses the level of integration within the Maltese community; and finally (5) gives a better understanding of multiculturalism as a “mosaic of identities”, that immigration is bringing about, and which will therefore have an effect upon the island’s diversity. This qualitative study utilizes semi-structured interviews conducted with eighteen voluntary migrants of different nationalities. Interviewees were chosen through a method known as snowball sampling.