A history of migration and the Maltese Islands
by Martin Debattista
The chequered history of the Maltese Islands is full of people that came and went away, some as friends, others kicked-out by the native Maltese and Gozitans. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Knights, the French, and the English amongst others all sought the refuge of the geo-political advantages offered by the Maltese Islands. In doing so, they brought with them their prowess, power, and immigrants.
The first Maltese are said to have come from Sicily and over here built the magnificent megalithic temples, the oldest standing buildings in the world. As the centuries went by, new colonisers came over and at the times of the Tunisian Arab invasion in the 9th century AD it is said hundreds of Tunisians migrated and settled in Malta.
The Maltese were de facto Muslims for the next few hundred years until Malta came once again under the Latin Christina sphere of influence from the 12th century AD. Contacts with the Muslim world were severed and Sicily, the nearest Christian land, provided some new foreign blood.
The Knights of St John brought the next injection of migrants, with a few hundred Greeks choosing to follow the Knights after the ousting from Rhodes. Contacts with Sicily continued, while the Knight’s connections with different European countries led to many foreigners coming to Malta and stay for good.
The Maltese population expanded rapidly under the Order of St. John in the 18th century and the British in the 19th century. Under the British for the first time Malta registered the first emigration wave, with Maltese establishing themselves in Gibraltar, Tunisia, Tripoli and Egypt which were not too far away from the homeland. In the meantime several British families, tied with the British armed forces, established themselves permanently in Malta and this gave rise to new settlements such as St. Andrews, Pembroke, and most important of all, Sliema.
Post-World War II Malta witnessed the birth of the Maltese independent state but also brought economic birth pangs. The economy was too much dependent on the British armed services at a time when the British Empire was at its dawn. The transition from a war-based to an industry-based economy could not support the post-war baby-boom and many youngsters had no other choice but to seek a new life in English-speaking far-away lands such as Canada, Australia, the United States and England itself.
The economic recovery of the 1970’s, 1980’s and expansion of the 1990’s meant some of the Maltese emigrants chose to come back for good. But the 1990’s also witnessed the first influx of hundreds of refugees as a direct result of the Gulf War, the Palestinian Intifada and the civil war in former Yugoslavia. While the majority were resettled elsewhere, some established themselves here.
However this was nothing compared to the larger wave of organised illegal immigration hitting the Mediterranean in the mid-90’s. December 1996 witnessed the largest tragedy in the modern maritime history of the Mediterranean, when over 270 illegal immigrants from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka perished in a storm in the channel between Malta and Sicily.
The wave continued and started to hit hard the Maltese Islands at the turn of the century. The countries of origin of these illegal immigrants were mainly from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Malta joined the European Union in May 2004 and there was no wave of EU citizens from the poorer countries coming to work in Malta as feared before the decisive referendum. On the contrary, the number of Maltese citizens seeking job opportunities and a new life in EU countries, especially in the administrative city of Brussels, is not small.
Malta, the bridge between two continents, at the crossroads of ancient civilisations, continues to be the centre of many welcomes and goodbyes.
by Martin Debattista
The chequered history of the Maltese Islands is full of people that came and went away, some as friends, others kicked-out by the native Maltese and Gozitans. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Knights, the French, and the English amongst others all sought the refuge of the geo-political advantages offered by the Maltese Islands. In doing so, they brought with them their prowess, power, and immigrants.
The first Maltese are said to have come from Sicily and over here built the magnificent megalithic temples, the oldest standing buildings in the world. As the centuries went by, new colonisers came over and at the times of the Tunisian Arab invasion in the 9th century AD it is said hundreds of Tunisians migrated and settled in Malta.
The Maltese were de facto Muslims for the next few hundred years until Malta came once again under the Latin Christina sphere of influence from the 12th century AD. Contacts with the Muslim world were severed and Sicily, the nearest Christian land, provided some new foreign blood.
The Knights of St John brought the next injection of migrants, with a few hundred Greeks choosing to follow the Knights after the ousting from Rhodes. Contacts with Sicily continued, while the Knight’s connections with different European countries led to many foreigners coming to Malta and stay for good.
The Maltese population expanded rapidly under the Order of St. John in the 18th century and the British in the 19th century. Under the British for the first time Malta registered the first emigration wave, with Maltese establishing themselves in Gibraltar, Tunisia, Tripoli and Egypt which were not too far away from the homeland. In the meantime several British families, tied with the British armed forces, established themselves permanently in Malta and this gave rise to new settlements such as St. Andrews, Pembroke, and most important of all, Sliema.
Post-World War II Malta witnessed the birth of the Maltese independent state but also brought economic birth pangs. The economy was too much dependent on the British armed services at a time when the British Empire was at its dawn. The transition from a war-based to an industry-based economy could not support the post-war baby-boom and many youngsters had no other choice but to seek a new life in English-speaking far-away lands such as Canada, Australia, the United States and England itself.
The economic recovery of the 1970’s, 1980’s and expansion of the 1990’s meant some of the Maltese emigrants chose to come back for good. But the 1990’s also witnessed the first influx of hundreds of refugees as a direct result of the Gulf War, the Palestinian Intifada and the civil war in former Yugoslavia. While the majority were resettled elsewhere, some established themselves here.
However this was nothing compared to the larger wave of organised illegal immigration hitting the Mediterranean in the mid-90’s. December 1996 witnessed the largest tragedy in the modern maritime history of the Mediterranean, when over 270 illegal immigrants from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka perished in a storm in the channel between Malta and Sicily.
The wave continued and started to hit hard the Maltese Islands at the turn of the century. The countries of origin of these illegal immigrants were mainly from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Malta joined the European Union in May 2004 and there was no wave of EU citizens from the poorer countries coming to work in Malta as feared before the decisive referendum. On the contrary, the number of Maltese citizens seeking job opportunities and a new life in EU countries, especially in the administrative city of Brussels, is not small.
Malta, the bridge between two continents, at the crossroads of ancient civilisations, continues to be the centre of many welcomes and goodbyes.
# produced by MaltaMedia News
