EU cooperation on the integration of non-EU nationals : a case study of health services in Malta

Abstract

Malta has been a host country for a growing number of migrants in the last decade, especially following membership to the European Union, integration, and acceptance of other nationalities, within Maltese society has proved to be a challenge, given the high homogeneity that characterises Malta together with the lack of effective integration policies. Among the challenges faced for the promotion of effective integration, is the general believe, usually held by native population, that migrants use welfare benefits more than the native population. Existing literature applied to north European countries and to the US, confirms the opposite that is migrants tend to use the same, or less, welfare services. However information in this regard appears to be scarce in Malta. This dissertation has the objective of assessing access to health services in Malta, looking at the use made by non-EU nationals, vis-a-vis Maltese and other EU citizens. It does so by applying a mixed methodology that makes use of a qualitative case study, also employing descriptive statistics to quantitatively assess the use of health services, divided by nationalities, in Malta. This dissertation has the objective to add evidence on the theoretical debate over the use of welfare services by migrants in the EU, as well contributing to the applied work being conducted in the field of integration studies in Malta.