Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545828
into Westerners' minds when they try to characterise less well-off, troubled countries." Third Country National According to MaltaPathway. com, "a Third-Country Na- tional (TCN) is any person who is not a citizen of a Eu- ropean Union member state, an EEA country (Norway, Ice- land, Liechtenstein), or Swit- zerland." First of all, Kunċett u Marinton should use the correct term to refer to "third country nationals" which would be "ċittadini ta' pajjiżi terzi" in Maltese. By using the phrase, "nies tat-tielet dinja", Kunċett u Marinton are being racist. Why not instead use the phrases "barranin" or "ċitta- dini ta' pajjiżi terzi" instead of the offensive "nies tat-tielet dinja" phrase? This ties to what has been recently happening in Malta. According to Times of Malta, immigration and deten- tion officials stopped a public bus in Marsa, ordering Mal- tese passengers to keep their identity cards away while sin- gling out people who "looked like" third-country nationals (TCNs) for inspection. The Home Affairs Ministry denied allegations of racial profiling and instead said that the inci- dent was just another immi- gration routine check. Ali Demirci, a Turkish person who has been a resident of Mal- ta for these last six years wrote about the incident on Lovin Malta, claiming that "if I had been sitting on one of those buses, I probably wouldn't have been stopped." Being Turkish and white, he stated: "Because when most people think of a migrant, they don't picture someone who looks like me." Because the foreigners Malta seems to have a problem with are dark-skinned, right? But really, why is catching the bus with "nies tat-tielet dinja" a problem? Why should one be worried about their eldery mom catching the bus with "nies tat-tielet dinja"? Why is Kunċett u Marinton blam- ing "nies tat-tielet dinja" for 'stealing their country'? Aren't Europeans and other TCNs swarming Malta too? You can find so many Italian restau- rants all over Malta, owned by Italians, and yet, barely find a restaurant serving Maltese food like fenek or ross il-forn or torta tal-lampuki, and yet, Italian restaurants are fine, but a Pakistani restaurant would be a problem. Aren't the thousands of tourists who visit Malta every summer, who add on to our overpopulation problem, coming from Euro- pean countries? If the problem is overpopulation, Europeans who live visa-free in Malta are also the cause for this. They al- so have kids in school, not just "nies tat-tielet dinja", there- fore, strengthening the prior- itisation of English in Malta's educational system too. Racist Malta Malta is racist because half-Maltese, half-Syrian law student and social worker Omar Rababah was targeted with racist and discriminatory comments online following his decision to contest the Mal- tese general election. Both the Opposition leader and prime minister agreed that another mosque should not be built in Malta. Why? Strengthening the use of the Maltese language in Malta is necessary. I do agree with Kunċett u Marinton on that. But I do not agree with them that it is "nies tat-tielet dinja" that are the problem. I went to secondary school in Malta and I am a native speaker of Maltese. My parents are Mal- tese and I know how to fluent- ly read and write in Maltese. The way Maltese is taught in schools is highly problematic. Knowing how to speak the lan- guage does not mean that you know how to read and write in Maltese properly. These two skills are not taught well- enough in secondary schools across the islands. Instead of filling in grammar exercises, students should be reading books weekly, participating in book discussions, writing es- says, participating in writing workshops, and performing presentations in Maltese. Stu- dents should be learning Mal- tese organically, rather than forcing them to simply learn grammar. According to the Nation- al Book Council: "The aver- age Maltese person purchases three books a year, with 53% preferring to read books in English while 46% opt for Mal- tese-language titles." And yet, it's "nies tat-tielet dinja" who are a threatening the Maltese language? "Nies tat-tielet din- ja" live in Malta only to try and have a better quality of life. In- stead, they actually do the jobs Maltese people don't want to do. They're our Bolt delivery drivers, they're our Tallinja drivers, our restaurant work- ers. The lowest paying jobs. A mistake Although I think Kunċett u Marinton do a lot of good by commenting on very relevant and valid things with regards to Malta's politics, environ- ment and problems overall, they made a mistake in using the term "nies tat-tielet dinja", blaming foreigners for Malta's problems and devaluing "nies tat-tielet dinja" who are sim- ply people just like us Maltese. I hope that, as a country, we realise that we generated our own problems. Even issues with immigration need to be solved in a humane and just way rather than discriminate against others. Your appear- ance should never be a reason to be treated unfairly or differ- ently than others. 11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2026 OPINION a reason to be treated unfairly or differently Ivy's dolphin appeal IVY is eight and she wrote to us with an appeal to have the dolphins held in cap- tivity at Splash and Fun set free. This is Ivy's appeal: I've liked dolphins since I was five. I always thought they had a special smile be- cause they looked very happy in the open water. But when I went to Splash and Fun and saw the two dol- phins stuck in that tiny pool it made me sad and I thought they didn't have their special smile. I hope they will let them go; it would make me and the dolphins so happy! And you think so too. Let them free yay! Ivy, 8 Even issues with immigration need to be solved in a humane and just way rather than discriminate against others.