Repubblika condemns PN MP's racist comment on Indians

NGO Repubblika has condemned PN MP Justin Schembri’s comment where he stated that that Malta is full of, “filth, shabbiness and Indians.”

Schembri made his comment under a ONE News article

Schembri said this in a comment under a ONE News article. On Tuesday, Repubblika said that these statements serve to dehumanise individuals as it categorises them in a list of objects, “without soul.”

“No human being should be considered ‘filth’,” the NGO said. Repubblika further noted that if these comments came from a private individual, they would be considered hateful and racially prejudiced. 

The fact that the comments were made by an MP and an aspiring education minister means that the statement was an explicit discriminatory and racist threat. 

The NGO added that Schembri had a chance to “fix some of the damage he did,” but instead he stuck to his guns. 

“It’s not justified,” Repubblika said. “Racism and all those who use it do not belong in democratic politics,” the NGO concluded. 

Schembri's rhetoric was also blasted by parliamentary secretary for equality Rebecca Buttigieg, who on Monday said that the PN does not see foreign workers as human beings.