Denying, While Demanding Integration: An Analysis of the Integration Paradox in Malta and Refugees’ Coping Strategies

Abstract

Since Malta joined the EU in 2004, almost 20,000 refugees have reached its shores. Obliged to remain on the island state, they are required to integrate, despite an absence of governmental integration processes. With Malta being an EU member, its government is, however, obliged to conform to EU policies covering reception procedures. In this chapter, we analyse two fields of tension that result from this situation: (1) saving refugees at sea vs questions of border control and (2) demanding the integration of refugees whilst simultaneously denying them access to mechanisms leading to integration. Thus, we reflect on this ‘shift of duties’ – with a focus on refugees’ coping strategies in this paradoxical situation – by looking at practices of (dis)integration acted out by governing and non-governing actors. This case highlights the fact that integration and disintegration are intertwined. To illustrate this phenomenon, we employ a multi-actor approach. By collecting data and utilising textualisation strategies based on collaborative research, we challenge the issue of representing (dis)integration exclusively from the researchers’ perspective.

Integration as an Essentially Contested Concept: Questioning the Assumptions behind the National Roma Integration Strategies of Italy and Spain

“…Conversely, minority integration in the European academic literature is commonly conceived of as a process shaped by the interaction between so-called 'economic migrants' and the receiving society, even though it is 'an interaction between parties that are fundamentally unequal in power and resources' (Ponzo et al 2013, p. 2), and, more recently, has been presented as a three-way process that also includes countries of origin (Garcés-Mascareñas and Penninx 2016). However, as is noted in the chapter by Nimführ et al (2020), the burden of integration, in most cases, tends to fall on the migrants, refugees or minorities, rather than on the stateeven if this latter might subscribe to the principles of integration as a desirable goal for society as a whole.…”

Can collaborative knowledge production decolonize epistemology?

“…This denial of access does not only make conference collaborations difficult; it also creates barriers to co-researchers presenting together in public settings. Together with Laura Otto and Gabriel Samateh, I wrote a chapter as part of an anthology on disintegration policies (see Nimführ, Otto and Samateh, 2020), which was to be presented at a book launch. However, the co-author Gabriel Samateh chose not to put in a public appearance.…”

Healthcare encounters between asylum seekers and health professionals in Maltese primary care

“…Support from the European Union has been inconsistent and this lack of commitment is the rationale that past and present governing parties have used to justify a departure from its humanitarian obligations towards asylum seekers, such as the violation of migrants’ rights at sea (Amnesty International, 2020). The adoption of anti-humanitarian strategies, in conjunction with a narrative of asylum seekers being both a burden and a threat to national security, serve to fuel public fears and anti-migrant sentiments (Nimfuhr et al, 2020). Indeed, whilst in 2002, public opinion of asylum seekers was initially one of sympathy, by 2004, this reaction changed to one of xenophobia and racism (Falzon and Micallef, 2008), with opinion surveys commonly citing ‘illegal immigration/immigrants’ as a topmost concern amongst the Maltese population (Sansone, 2020).…”