Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1000343
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JULY 2018 regions with 12.4% and 10.4% respec- tively. Concern that criminality will in- crease as a result of asylum seekers was highest in the Southern Harbour region with 22.1%. The overriding feeling among peo- ple is that Malta cannot take in more foreigners, irrespective of who they are. When asked about this, 90.6% said the islands were full up, with only 6.8% saying that Malta could take in more foreigners. Asked whether foreigners who have lived in Malta for more than 10 years should be able to vote, 61% said No. Of the 32.1% who said foreigners should be able to vote, the strongest support came from those with a ter- tiary education (44.4%), those who live in the Western region (37.7%) and those aged between 36 and 50 (37.2%). Between perception and the personal experience The concerns with foreigners and asylum seekers that people expressed appear to be disjointed from the real- ity they encounter on a daily basis, ac- cording to the survey. Despite the use of abstract notions such as 'invasion', or concerns over job losses, 73.1% of people said there was no fear of foreigners in the local- ity where they lived. This indicates that on a personal level people do not necessarily expe- rience the fear or concern they may harbour when speaking about for- eigners and asylum seekers. The highest levels of fear were flagged in the Northern Harbour and Northern regions with 35.6% and 26.3% respectively. On the flipside, people living in the South-Eastern region witnessed the lowest (16.5%) fear of foreigners in the locality where they lived. But the survey also showed that regular interaction with foreigners, whether EU or non-EU nationals was not very high. When asked whether they speak to foreigners from the EU on a regu- lar basis outside the workplace, only 30.6% said Yes. The highest number was registered among those aged 18-35, where 40.8% said they engaged regularly with EU nationals outside the workplace. Those with a tertiary education were also more likely to have engaged with foreigners. A regional breakdown shows that people living in the Northern (39.7%) and Northern Harbour (33.1%) re- gions engaged regularly in conver- sation with EU nationals. Gozitans emerged as the least likely to engage with foreigners with only 22% saying they spoke regularly to EU nationals. The numbers are not significantly different when people were asked the same question for non-EU nationals. Only 25.3% said they conversed regularly with non-EU nationals, with the young being at the forefront of en- gagement with 34.7%. The Northern region comes out on top in its engagement with foreigners from outside the EU (36.1%) while Gozo hits rock bottom with only 5.4% saying they regularly converse with non-EU nationals outside the work- place. They came, they saw, they settled Language, cultural and historical affinity appear to play an important part in how people perceive whether foreigners have integrated with Mal- tese society. Asked to identify the nationality of people they feel have best integrated in Malta, 25.5% mentioned Italians, followed by 21.5% who identified the British. While 17.2% did not know what to answer, only a mere 2.9% said all na- tionalities managed to integrate well. Of note are significant references, albeit small, to Filipinos (4.4%), Serbs (3.7%), Libyans (2.2%) and Syrians (2%), which people also felt had inte- grated well. Methodology The survey was carried out be- tween Monday 18 June and Friday 22 June, 2018. Stratified random sampling defined by age, gen- der and region discriminants was used to replicate the fidelity of the popula- tion. 562 respondents chose to take part. The margin of error for a confidence in- terval of 95% is es- timated at 4.2%. ANALYSIS NOTHING 41.54% 20.08% 10.67% 9.19% 6.49% THEY TAKE OUR JOBS THEY ARE INVADING US OTHERS PROPERTY PRICES AND RENTS RISING BECAUSE OF THEM Top concerns of Maltese about foreign workers in Malta By Age By Region By Gender In the locality where you live, is there a fear of foreigners? 18-35 36-50 51-65 65+ 72.71% 26.72% 73.56% 24.47% 74.00% 25.46% 71.80% 28.20% Don't know No Yes Male Female 71.90% 27.13% 74.22% 25.18% Don't know No Yes S. Harbour N. Harbour S. Eastern Western Northern Gozo 72.83% 27.17% 63.90% 35.56% 82.40% 16.54% 82.52% 16.18% 71.88% 26.28% 76.79% 23.21% Don't know No Yes No 60.9% Yes 32.1% Don't know 6.9% Do you agree that foreigners who would have lived here legally, for more than 10 years, should be given the right to vote? tween Monday 18 June and Friday 22 June, 2018. Stratified random sampling defined by age, gen- der and region discriminants was used to replicate the fidelity of the popula- tion. 562 respondents chose to take part. The margin of error for a confidence in- terval of 95% is es- timated at 4.2%. Don't know No Yes