‘You’re just a foreigner’ – cab driver recounts threats from Maltese passenger

“YOU’RE JUST A FOREIGNER” – CAB DRIVER RECOUNTS THREATS FROM MALTESE PASSENGER
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It started like any other Friday night outside St Julian’s Bay. At 1:47 a.m., 34-year-old Nigerian-born driver *Emeka* flicked on his green taxi light and waited for the passenger who had just pinged the app. Within minutes, a man in a red football jersey slid into the back seat, reeking of beer and cigarettes. Twenty minutes later, Emeka was parked under the glaring fluorescents of the Qawra police station, filing a report that has since reopened one of Malta’s rawest conversations: who belongs on this island, and who gets to decide?

“He kept telling me to ‘go back to Africa’,” Emeka told *Hot Malta* yesterday, his voice still trembling. “Then he leaned forward, grabbed my shoulder and said, ‘Remember, you’re just a foreigner here. I can make you disappear.’”

According to the police report seen by this newsroom, the passenger—described as a Maltese male in his mid-40s—became agitated when Emeka refused to drive faster along the Coast Road. The verbal barrage escalated to threats of physical harm, forcing Emeka to pull over near Buġibba and call 112. Officers arrived within six minutes. No arrest was made on the spot; the passenger was “removed from the vehicle and advised to calm down,” the report reads. Emeka says he now wants charges pressed for racially aggravated harassment.

### A familiar script in a changing Malta
Emeka’s story is not an isolated incident. Transport Malta statistics show that 42% of licensed cab drivers today are third-country nationals, up from 8% in 2015. The shift has mirrored Malta’s broader demographic transformation: foreigners now make up roughly 27% of the total population, according to the latest NSO census. While the economy relies heavily on migrant labour, the social fabric is still catching up.

“These episodes are the tip of the iceberg,” says Maria Pisani, director of the Integra Foundation. “We log at least one complaint a week from taxi or delivery drivers who’ve faced racial slurs. What makes this case striking is that it happened inside the driver’s own workplace—his car, his livelihood.”

### The unwritten rule of *‘Mela, inti barrani’*
Ask any long-term resident from outside the EU and they’ll know the phrase *‘inti barrani’*—“you’re an outsider.” Sometimes it’s muttered in jest at village festa kiosks; other times it’s spat with venom, as Emeka experienced. The words carry the weight of centuries: Malta’s history is one of repeated foreign domination—from the Phoenicians to the British—yet modern nationalism can still weaponise identity.

Football culture often amplifies the tension. The passenger’s red jersey bore the crest of a prominent local club whose ultras have been sanctioned in the past for racist chants. “When the team loses, some fans look for someone weaker to blame,” notes sociologist Dr Andrea Dibben of the University of Malta. “Drivers stuck in traffic become easy targets.”

### Community backlash and a push for change
By Saturday evening, a grainy dash-cam clip of the incident—shared by Emeka’s colleague—had ricocheted across Facebook groups, racking up 28,000 views and hundreds of comments. While a minority defended the passenger (“maybe he was just drunk”), the majority condemned the abuse. Hashtags #DriveWithRespect and *#BarraniJienMaNġibx* (“I may be foreign, but I’m not afraid”) trended locally.

In a rare joint statement, the Malta Taxi Drivers Association and the Gozo Operators Guild announced they will offer free de-escalation training to all members, regardless of nationality. “Our roads are microcosms of society,” said spokesperson Karl Briffa. “If we can’t keep them safe, we can’t call ourselves hospitable.”

Meanwhile, Emeka is back behind the wheel, but with a dash-cam that uploads straight to the cloud. “I love this island,” he insists. “I pay taxes here. My daughter was born at Mater Dei. I’m not asking for special treatment—just not to be told I’m disposable.”

As Malta barrels toward another record tourist season, the episode is a sobering reminder that every ride-share is also a referendum on the kind of country we want to be. The meter is running; the choice, as always, is ours.