The Maltese have to address their fear of outsiders and give migrants the welcome and dignity they deserve, the Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara said in a message for International Migrants Day, being celebrated on Monday.

ŻĦN said that migration was for some a forced decision of last resort and the beginning of a very difficult, sometimes fatal, journey.

But vast numbers of migrants are the object of exploitation, including in 21st-century Malta where categories of migrants are at times treated little better than modern-day slaves.

They often perform jobs with little or no safety; are exploited by their employers, their landlords and, the people who lure them to the country with false promises and hope.

"Migrants must be welcomed and given the dignity they deserve – be they professionals working in the national health sector, workers keeping our environment clean or involved in other sectors of Maltese society.

"This dignity starts by recognising that we are all human beings and therefore deserve every respect irrespective of which country we come from," ŻĦN said.

It said that welcoming migrants meant opening doors to help them integrate. 

"We need to address our fear of the outsider as a nation.

"On the one hand as a society, we cannot and must not force the ghettoisation of those people that choose to make Malta their home, simply because we refused to acknowledge them as brothers and sisters – simply because we are afraid that they will take over."

ŻĦN called for programmes to help migrants integrate – including assistance and motivation to learn Maltese and understand the local way of doing things, Maltese culture and history.

"Only when we can understand each other can we get to a stage where we can accept each other and flourish as a diverse and functioning multi-cultural nation.

"Leaving multi-culturalism to its own devices will not work," the organisation said.