Earlier this week the Xaghra Local Council hosted a two-day international conference about immigration as part of the EU funded ‘Diami’ project.

This project, which involves five European countries, Italy, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Malta, is aimed at creating awareness about the problem of immigration which is affecting various countries and studying methods how these immigrants can integrate better in society.

From the practical point of view, the project consists of five conferences held in each partner country including Malta. Earlier this month, the Xaghra Local Council attended a similar conference in Puerto Lumbreras, Spain. Xaghra is the only Maltese council partnered in this EU-funded project.

The first day of the conference themed ‘Second Generation Migrants’ consisted of a number of professional speakers and representatives from various local organisations who shared their views about the problem of immigration.

The conference got underway with an opening speech by the The Minister for Gozo, Dr. Anton Refalo, during which he mentioned various historical points about the problem of immigration in Gozo and the vision of the Gozo Ministry to help immigrants integrate better in our country.

The Xaghra Mayor Joe Cordina, thanked everyone for attending and said that by the Council organising the conference it showed its committment to exploit various funding opportunities within the European Union to organise events from which the whole community can benefit

The speakers during the conference included Dr. Charles Pace from the Department of Social Policy within the University of Malta, Dr. Jon Hoiseter from UNHCR Malta and Fr. Paul Pace from the Jesuit Refugee Service. A number of presentations were also done by the foregin municipalities taking part in this event.

The delegates also had also the opportunity to enjoy the Gozitan heritage along with the rural environment with visits to Dwejra and Ramla Bay, Ggantija Temples and Ta’ Kola Windmill.

The final conference in the series for the ‘Diami’ project will be held in Finland in mid-June and a delegation from the Xaghra Local Council is expected to attend.

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