Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1307485
Gaddafi regime. But MEP elections in 2009 further contributed to migra- tion concerns, after Labour turned migration into its top campaign issue. A Euroba- rometer survey held in June 2009 saw concern on migration peaking at 49%. In contrast, under a Labour government concern on mi- gration peaked at 76% and 65% in two surveys held in 2015, despite a sharp drop in arriv- als following an agreement between the Letta and Renzi governments, which saw Italy taking in all migrants rescued in Malta's Search and Rescue Zone. One factor contributing to this surge in concern on mi- gration was the radicalisation of political discourse on mi- gration following the aborted pushback by Joseph Muscat in July 2013. In fact, concern on migration increased dramati- cally from 29% in May 2013 to a staggering 63% in November 2013. Another contributing factor was the surge in foreign work- ers. Despite the lull in boat ar- rivals in 2015, Malta registered the highest positive net migra- tion – difference between im- migration and emigration – for the decade at 4,176. That year, 12,831 migrant workers arrived in Malta in 2015 – more than three times as much as a dec- ade earlier. And the surge of concern on migration also co- incided with a surge of terrorist attacks linked to Islamic funda- mentalism in 2015. Concern on migration did drop to 33% in May and No- vember 2017 in a year where boat arrivals had dropped to 20. Moreover, increased num- bers in 2019 saw a record 3,405 boat arrivals, which saw con- cern on migration growing again to 65%. Despite the COVID-19 pan- demic, concern on migration remained higher than that about health and economic sit- uation in a survey held in July. The survey held in July coin- cided with a lull in infections at the beginning of summer and a more hawkish stance by Prime Minister Robert Abela, who used the COVID-19 pandem- ic as a pretext to block ports while refusing to save migrants in distress. 13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2020 www.bca.org.mt GENERAL ENQUIRIES: 2095 5000 CUSTOMER CARE: 2095 5555 2095 5710 ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES ( EPC ) : THIRD PARTY ISSUES: 2095 5700 NEW TELEPHONE NUMBERS AS OF 9 TH NOVEMBER 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 boat EU workers TCN workers Migration arrivals and non-EU countries, from 2009-2010 2008 till 2020 Eurobarometer surveys 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 50 60 70 80 90 100 Spring '08 Spring '14 Autumn '14 Spring '15 Autumn '15 Spring '16 Autumn '16 Spring '17 Autumn '17 Spring '18 Autumn '18 Spring '19 Autumn '19 Spring '20 54% 19 17 17 57% 15 15 76% 26 12 65% 16 19 50% 19 17 46% 25 26 33% 19 19 32% 22 45 39% 21 30 50% 28 29 49% 33 43 65% 35 18 58% 18 25 Housing Unemployment Economy Government debt Health Pensions 2008 till 2020 Eurobarometer surveys concern on immigration: it concern in 2011-2013 2008 till 2020 Eurobarometer surveys Immigration filled a void after the newly- elected Labour government reduced energ y bills and the economy started on its unprecedented growth path.