Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544245
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 APRIL 2026 OPINION Josanne Cassar She has worked in the field of communications and journalism for the last 30 years We rarely used to see homeless TODAY, the majority of us will sit down to a delicious Easter lunch at tables groaning with food, surrounded by fam- ily and friends, in our warm comfortable homes, or else at a restaurant because we can afford to spend a couple of hundred euro to eat out. The children will receive so many figolli and chocolate Easter eggs from relatives that they will probably not be able to eat them all. Churches will be packed and crowds will throng to the annual procession of l-Irxoxt (the Risen Christ) because for this one day, even those who are not practicing Catholics will feel that nostalgic pull which takes them back to their roots as they remem- ber their childhoods, steeped in this de- vout tradition. And Facebook and Instagram will be replete with photos of happy families. In stark contrast to this picture-per- fect portrait of privileged lives, last week's edition of Popolin made us keen- ly aware of another world which exists on this island, of which few of us are actually aware because it is not on our radar. It is a world of drop-in centres, soup kitchens, and a place to have a shower and wash your clothes from the grime of the streets. The documentary peeled away the multi-faceted layers of Maltese society and revealed the underbelly which ex- ists on the periphery of all these new flats which will be rented out at stupid prices, which no one on an average sala- ry can afford. What a paradox to discuss homelessness within the context of a country which has a booming economy, zero unemployment and keeps import- ing a foreign workforce because it can- not find enough Maltese to do the jobs which are available. Popolin provided a keyhole glimpse into another Malta. The homeless are people with a myriad of issues: Ex-con- victs who served their sentence but have nowhere to go; those with mental health issues; drug problems, gambling, debts and broken marriages. They are those who lost their job due to an in- jury and could no longer afford to pay rent. They are former businessmen and professionals who became involved in illegal activity. With each interview, the recurring theme was loss: They have lost their home, their job, their chil- dren, their entire family. They have lost everything. As was pointed out, from this side of the fence it is easy to be judgemental and not have any compassion for home- less people, saying they brought it on themselves because of substance abuse or other bad decisions. It is also easy to sweep them all into one category—all foreigners, all men, all addicts, but the reality is very different. The homeless are divided into three categories: 1. Primary homeless—sleeping rough, or under a tent or in a car; 2. Secondary homeless— couch-surfing, sleeping at friends or al- ways changing their residence; 3. Tertiary homeless—they have a place but are always changing because they have no security of tenure and can be evicted at any point, or else where they are living does not have minimum living standards such as a private toilet. In a conference held last year by YM- CA, it classified 335 individuals as at risk of homelessness, 185 as roofless, 23 as couch-surfing, and 27 as unspecified. These figures were reinforced by related data from other agencies. YMCA Malta assisted 450 people in 2024, and nearly 300 cases were recorded in the first six months of 2025 alone, with 180 being provided shelter. 75% are men, mostly due to mental health issues, substance abuse or who were evicted for not paying rent. For- eign nationals make up 67% of homeless people in Malta. Between 35 and 50 homeless individ- uals everyday use the YMCA drop-in centre in Hamrun, which provides them with their basic necessities while they are waiting to be allocated a place and programme in one of their shelters. From the smug comfort of our homes which we own and for which we can afford to pay the mortgage because we have a steady income, we cannot begin to fathom what it feels like to hit rock bottom. The indignity and humilia- tion of relying on charity, waiting until 9am for YMCA to open to have break- fast or lining up at the soup kitchen with strangers, or resorting to begging. Women whose children have been tak- en away from them because they have It is a Catch 22 situation of first needing a place to live and then being able to apply for a job because without a fixed address you cannot do anything.