The police have said they are investigating a rental property advert that warned against applications from “Pakis, Indians, Arabs and Philippines”.
The advert hit the headlines earlier this month when the company responsible, Alliance Real Estate, blamed the incident on human error, adding it was obligated to follow landlord “restrictions” on tenants.
But prominent human rights lawyer, Neil Falzon, said restricting housing based on skin colour or nationality was illegal, calling Maltese law “crystal clear” on the matter.
A police spokesperson confirmed an investigation into the incident was “underway” but did not provide further details.
Meanwhile, sources said the investigation was looking into the incident itself – as well as the company responsible.
A listing for a three-bedroom apartment in Żebbuġ appeared on the Alliance Real Estate website earlier this month before later appearing on property aggregate website propertymarket.com.mt.
Alongside a note explaining the property could be turned into a five-bedroom terraced house, the description also read: “no Pakis, Indians, Arabs and Philippines” (sic).
The term ‘Paki’ is a derogatory term for a person from Pakistan that has also been used to contemptuously describe people of other South Asian nationalities.
Law requires you to treat people with decency and respect
Alliance Real Estate said the words appeared online after an “internal comment” was published by mistake instead of the intended property description.
The listing has since been removed from propertymarket. com.mt – which distanced itself from the advert when contacted by Times of Malta – and edited on the Alliance website to remove the reference.
Alliance CEO Michael Bonello subsequently penned a Times of Malta opinion piece acknowledged the "unfortunate incident" and calling for reforms to address "legitimate concerns" landlords had.
Commenting on the case, Falzon said “anyone refusing to offer a service to a person simply on the basis of their skin colour, nationality or origin is breaking the law... the law requires you to treat people with decency and respect”.
But according to the Malta Malayalee Association, which represents members of the Indian community, such discrimination is commonplace.
A spokesperson for the organisation said South Asians were “more often than not” turned down for properties because of their nationality.
“Apartment owners often reject Indians from renting their apartment just because of where we are from,” he said, adding the community had not been surprised by the incident.
Real estate agents told Times of Malta they normally tell prospective tenants a property isn’t available if faced with restrictive landlords.