Malta Police Arrest 28 Homeless in Four-Town Sweep, Sparking National Soul-Searching

**Police Sweep Targets Homeless in Four Towns, Sparks Outrage and Debate**

In a pre-dawn operation that has ignited fierce debate across the islands, Maltese police arrested 28 homeless individuals during coordinated raids in Valletta, Sliema, St Julian’s and Birkirkara. Officers began moving through doorways, bus shelters and makeshift camps at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, citing “public order offences” and “anti-social behaviour” after a spike in complaints from residents and tourist operators.

The detained group—17 men and 11 women, ranging in age from 19 to 63—included both Maltese nationals and foreign nationals who have fallen through the country’s social safety net. All were released on bail by Wednesday afternoon, but the crackdown has reopened painful questions about how Malta, the EU country with the fastest-growing GDP, cares for its most vulnerable.

Homelessness is still a taboo subject in Malta, where family networks traditionally absorb those who lose housing. Yet NGO estimates put the number of rough sleepers at 250–300 on any given night, triple the figure a decade ago. “The stereotype of the ‘lazy vagrant’ is outdated,” said Dr Maria Camilleri, who heads the voluntary organisation Dar Papa Franġisku. “We see evicted tenants, former dockworkers priced out of the rental boom, even third-country nationals who arrived legally to work in tourism but had contracts cancelled overnight.”

Tuesday’s raids focused on areas that symbolise Malta’s economic miracle—and its growing pains. In Sliema, tents were dismantled along the promenade where super-yachts now outnumber traditional luzzus. In Valletta, police cleared the arches of the Upper Barrakka, a favourite sleeping spot since British naval days but recently rebranded as an open-air venue for wine festivals. Witnesses say officers filmed the operation on body-cams, a measure police say protects both sides but which some activists liken to “criminalising poverty.”

Tourism stakeholders welcomed the move. “We’ve had cruise-ship passengers step over bodies to reach the shuttle bus,” one Valletta hotel manager told Hot Malta, asking not to be named. “Compassion is important, but so is the image of the country.” That sentiment worries culture anthropologist Dr Graziana Mifsud. “Malta’s identity has always balanced hospitality with Catholic notions of caritas,” she said. “When we hide poverty to protect a postcard, we risk eroding the very soul we sell to visitors.”

Government sources say the arrests were part of a wider “pathway to services” pilot: those detained were offered shower facilities, medical checks and appointments with housing officials. Yet only eight accepted, according to police. Critics argue the programme was under-advertised and began with handcuffs rather than hand-outs. “You can’t offer help while treating people like criminals,” said activist Chris Pace, who live-streamed part of the Sliema raid. His video, showing an elderly woman pleading to keep her dog as officers seized her belongings, had been viewed 180,000 times by Thursday—nearly a third of Malta’s population.

The opposition Nationalist Party called for an urgent parliamentary debate, while Archbishop Charles Scicluna urged “a national conversation on rent inflation and mental-health support.” Meanwhile, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association proposed a voluntary “tourist euro” levy to fund 24-hour shelters, a suggestion that divided social workers who fear commodifying compassion.

On the streets, the fallout is immediate. “We scattered like cockroaches,” said 42-year-old ‘Joseph’, a former construction worker sleeping rough since a crane accident left him unable to pay rent. “Now even the caves at Pembroke are boarded up. Where next?” His question hangs over the islands as winter approaches and rental prices continue to outstrip wages.

For a country that prides itself on turning limestone into gold, the challenge is no longer just building homes—but making sure everyone can live in them. Until then, the arches and doorways of Malta’s glittering towns will remain both shelter and battleground, a mirror reflecting what kind of nation we have become, and what kind we aspire to be.