History of emigration & the present situation : Maltese connections overseas

Abstract

First things first! It is a unique opportunity for our motherland Malta to acknowledge the presence and contribution of Maltese living abroad and to welcome this new millennium in the land of our birth or that of our ancestors. I therefore thank the Malta Government who, in conjunction with the Malta Emigrants Commission, organised this second Migrant Convention. From an historical perspective, it can be said that as a result of decades of migration to Australia, which was officially perceived as a strategic colonial policy, i.e. emigration acted as a safety valve for an overpopulated island-fortress, Malta expanded its people boundaries to lands far beyond its Mediterranean shores. Before Malta became an industrialised, economically-viable and independent nation, it could not sustain its high level of population because of limited land space, a high birth rate and no natural resources. Its main assets were its people, their skills, ingenuity, willingness-to-work-hard and thriftiness, qualities which emigrants quickly put to good use, on arrival in Australia and elsewhere. Australia, one of the most distant lands where Maltese have ventured in an organised way since the early 1880s, is an island-continent with a settled, long-established Maltese community. Today, many believe that Australians of Maltese birth or descent exceed Maltese in the Maltese Islands itself. However, for many decades, Maltese immigrants have been left to fend for themselves in city and rural Australia and have had to overcome settlement obstacles, in what Prof Maurice N Cauchi aptly describes in his most recent book "The Maltese Migrant Experience" as splendid isolation. He notes that the authorities at home either could not, or would not, get involved in any major project aimed at helping in the settlement process. In vain did representatives of migrants ask for such assistance, because very little was forthcoming (largely, it must be said, because very little was actually available at home). Yet, despite years of little support from their home country and the various reasons for such neglect, Dr Barry York in his book "The Maltese in Australia" observed that The Maltese have succeeded in Australian society largely because of dedicated, selfless and frequently unacknowledged efforts of individuals and community groups. A few are here today but many, many more are not. It must therefore be acknowledged that through their individual and community efforts, Maltese in Australia have retained their sense of identity and love for their ancestral home.