Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/764316
24 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2016 Opinion M any secular Europeans struggle to understand why religion and its trappings retain such an allure for many people worldwide, with even fellow Europeans who seemed well on their way to secularization apparently in the process of reverting back to more and more traditional 'Christian' values, perhaps as a reaction to in-your-face fundamentalism of the non-Christian variety. But those among us who cannot understand why so many obstinately cling to their beliefs fail to understand that subscription to an all-encompassing faith is often the only beacon of hope in the lives of many of the third-country nationals who have sought and have often secured entry into Europe. It is, as a consequence, totally unrealistic of 'old' Europeans to expect these 'new' Europeans to spontaneously 'ditch' their faith and become secular and, as a consequence, more 'European' as part of the process of integrating into the host society, as many in the West seem to think they will or should do. This of course applies not just to recent arrivals but in some cases even more to those who are long-established and even European-born to foreign parents. The first large study on the 'integration' of immigrants, published in 2015 by the OECD and the EU, is not very encouraging in its conclusions, with immigrants and the children of immigrants born in the host society having a considerably greater chance of being unemployed, living in poor quality housing and feeling discriminated against by the state than others in the community. (http:// www.oecd.org/els/mig/Indicators-of- Immigrant-Integration-2015.pdf ) The report is a treasure trove of information and is particularly interesting for students of Maltese society because in contrast with the usual situation with international reports of this nature, where our island is nowhere to be seen, there is much information on Malta that can be culled from it. The most salient features to emerge from the data is the fact that the recently- established migrant communities in Malta make up a relatively low percentage of the population compared to other 'Western' countries – a fact we were already fairly aware of – and that Malta's buoyant economy has attracted a considerable number of highly-educated people with the overwhelming bulk coming from high-income countries. Indeed, at over 85%, Malta has the highest proportion of migrants originating in high-income countries of all OECD/EU countries. There are no statistics on Malta in the section relating to discrimination perceived by first and second generation immigrant youth but as many as 35% of the native-born offspring of foreign-born migrants in countries with large migrant communities such as the Netherlands, have declared that they have been discriminated against. Austria, France and the UK report similarly high figures. With native-born offspring of foreign-born migrants constituting a disproportionately large and growing portion of all youth this does not augur well for Europe. As yet, Malta does not seem to have such an element in its demography. Race, religion or ethnicity do not figure in the parameters of the OECD/EU report which throws light on migrants in a wide spectrum of countries ranging from Australia to the United States via Chile, Korea and Mexico, but they do appear in the report published earlier this month (December 2016) in the UK, by the Department for Communities and Local Government entitled The Casey Review: A Review into Opportunity and Integration (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/574565/The_Casey_Review.pdf). This report makes for very sombre reading indeed regarding the prospects for integration with Blackburn, Birmingham, Burnley and Bradford having wards with between 70% and 85% Muslim populations; with the Muslim population growing at a much faster rate than any other sector, and concentrated more and more in select urban settings isolated from contact with the rest of society, the distance from the mainstream values of society seems set to grow. Women in some of these communities are perceived as being particularly at risk and have been found to face a double onslaught of gender inequality combined with religious, cultural and social barriers preventing them from accessing even their basic rights as British residents. Violence against women remains all too prevalent not only in domestic abuse but also in other criminal practices such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage and so-called 'honour'-based crime while Sharia Councils, whose influence is growing, have been accused of condoning wife beating, ignoring marital rape, and allowing forced marriage. The report indicates that as many as 75% of Muslim marriages in the UK have not been registered under the Marriage Act and as a consequence leave women without full legal rights in the event of divorce. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups in particular ethnic and faith communities are, as in the case of women, doubly at risk. Muslim members of these groups in particular are at the receiving end of hate crimes as Muslims and are also hated and stigmatized within their own communities. Like other nations in Europe, the UK has seen the emergence of 'parallel societies' where the law of the land has no writ although the situation is perhaps not as bad as in the French banlieues, or suburbs, like Aubervilliers where local politicians strike deals with local Salafists to get votes and maintain public order and where women are under increasing pressure to wear the hijab under the watchful eye of males who have nothing else to do other than to ensure that people behave as 'good Muslims'. Polling in the UK in 2015 revealed that 55% of the general public agreed that there was a clash between Islam and the fundamental values of British society – identified by successive UK governments as democracy; the rule of law; individual liberty; equality; freedom of speech; and mutual respect, tolerance and understanding of different faiths and beliefs – while an even higher proportion, 60%, felt that the overall impact of migration has been negative. In a reaction to Angela Merkel's partial burqa ban last week, The Economist had this to say, "Those who want to ban veils are not worried about security but about immigration and integration. To them, limited bans confirm only that mainstream politicians are too timid to embrace the real thing. Some of them worry legitimately that Muslim immigrants do not share Europe's liberal norms. But the best way to preserve those freedoms is to let women dress as modestly as they please." I beg to differ and would instead suggest that the best way to preserve our freedoms is to ensure that our human resource needs are drawn from those cultures whose values are not too distant from our own, as Malta has overwhelmingly done so far. Best way to solve a problem is to nip it in the bud. Prof. Carmel Vassallo is a University of Malta academic. The first part of this opinion was published on 11 December, 2016 The wider perspective on integration Inga Boissevain's novel at all leading book shops @ €8.99 Carmel Vassallo The best way to preserve our freedoms is to ensure that our human resource needs are drawn from those cultures whose values are not too distant from our own