‘Humiliating’ bus raids spark racial profiling claims, ministry defends raids

A Maltese bus passenger has described the “humiliating” moment immigration and detention officials stopped a public bus in Marsa last week, ordering Maltese passengers to keep their identity cards away while singling out people who “looked like” third-country nationals (TCNs) for inspection.

The inspection, which ended with four passengers handcuffed with cable ties and loaded into a detention van, has drawn condemnation from human rights NGOs and academics who say the practice is “clear and simple” racial profiling.

However, the Home Affairs Ministry has strongly defended the raids, insisting they are lawful, routine and based on objective intelligence rather than race or ethnicity.

Raids on third-country nationals have been a common practice for many years, but images captured by the passenger last week raise fresh concerns over whether the practice is appropriate.

The passenger shared images of the raid, which she witnessed shortly before 8am last Sunday on a bus travelling through Marsa.

She said around five immigration officials standing outside a parked van labelled ‘Detention Services’ signalled for the bus to pull over.

Three plainclothes immigration officials wearing lanyards boarded the vehicle while another two stayed outside.

“They went around asking who was Maltese and to the Maltese people they said: ‘It’s ok, you don’t have to do anything’,” the passenger said, noting she was personally told she did not need to produce her ID.

“Then they walked to the passengers who looked like they might be third-country nationals and asked each to show their ID cards. The TCNs already knew what this was about. It seemed like it had happened to them before.”

The passenger described the process as deeply demeaning for those targeted.

“It was quite humiliating because the officials were telling them they had the wrong IDs in front of all the other passengers. And they handcuffed four of them using cable ties and took them off the bus and into the van.”

The inspection delayed the bus by 10 minutes.

‘This is racial profiling, clear and simple’

The raid has drawn backlash from academic and activist Maria Pisani, alongside human rights NGOs Aditus and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). In a joint statement, the groups said the practice directly contradicts the government’s own national anti-racism strategy.

“This is racial profiling, clear and simple. There is no other way of describing it,” they said.

“Subjecting all persons who don’t fit the stereotypical image of Maltese to such humiliating practices is unacceptable.”

Nobody who looked Maltese was stopped

They argued that the theatrical nature of the raids actively harms integration.

“It seems to us police are resorting to activities that create a public spectacle of boarding a bus, serving to fuel racism, fear and division. The use of cable ties further reinforces the unnecessary criminalisation of migrants when no crime has been committed.

“Whilst we understand that immigration police have a job to do, there are better ways that respect the basic human dignity of all.”

Ministry defends ‘routine’, ‘lawful’ checks

Questioned about the raid, the Home Affairs Ministry firmly denied allegations of discriminatory targeting, describing the public transport checks as an efficient, long-standing tool for state enforcement.

“Claims that these inspections amount to racial profiling are incorrect,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

“Checks are carried out on the basis of operational requirements, intelligence and objective indicators, and not on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, race, or any other discriminatory criteria.”

They said public transport checks are just one part of a broader enforcement framework that includes workplaces, roadblocks, public spaces, and private residences.

The ministry also provided data showing that 1,137 individuals were issued with return decisions and removal orders during the first five months of this year alone.

Furthermore, 5,045 TCNs were deported between January 2024 and May 2026, and 201 individuals who had been convicted of criminal offences were deported during that same period after completing their prison sentences.

A broader issue

Times of Malta dug further into the issue and found that several other people who “do not look typically Maltese” report having been racially targeted multiple times, even when they are, in fact, Maltese citizens.

And they say they have been racially profiled not only by state officials, but by all sorts of people.

Among them is Adam*, a black man who is a Maltese citizen and married to a white Maltese woman. He recalled an incident at airport customs and border control while traveling with his family to Egypt.

Despite already clearing passport control, he was singled out by plainclothes officers as he was sitting at the gate with his family.

“They came straight to me. And I noticed they were going around stopping other black people. Nobody who looked Maltese was stopped, not even my own family who was with me. They walked to us and only asked me to see ID,” he said.

“Even worse, they apologised when I pulled out the Maltese passport. They said, ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you’re Maltese’.”

The apology itself is telling, he said.

“It shows they feel like they shouldn’t be checking someone who has a passport from a more privileged country.”

He said the bias goes beyond state checkpoints and it often goes unnoticed by the wider public.

When he is out shopping with his wife, staff frequently shadow him or offer persistent, unnecessary assistance, he said.

“They will repeatedly ask if I need help. I worked in retail before, and I know what that means. It’s what staff say to approach people who look suspicious.”

He also recalled instances where strangers have approached his white wife to ask where she “got” their biological son, assuming the child was adopted.

On other occasions while out walking together, police officers have actually stopped his wife to ask if she needed help because a black man was walking behind her.

“Racial profiling happens all the time, but unless you’re conscious of it or a victim of it, you wouldn’t realise it,” he said.

Racial profiling is a discriminatory practice by law enforcement or security officials who target individuals for searches, questioning, or detention based on their race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion rather than on specific, objective evidence of wrongdoing.

It is considered fundamentally unjust because it violates the core democratic principle which grants everyone the right to be treated equally before the law. It creates suspicion based purely on physical appearance and risks treating innocent people as suspects simply because of how they look.

The practice is also known to inflict psychological harm, strip individuals of their basic human dignity in public spaces and erode trust within the community.

*Adam is a fictitious name to protect the man’s identity.