Police said they were investigating an advert for a rental property that warned against applications from “Pakis, Indians, Arabs and Filipinos”.
The complaint made headlines earlier this month when the company responsible, Alliance Real Estate, blamed the incident on human error, adding that it was obligated to respect landlords’ “restrictions” on tenants.
But prominent human rights lawyer Neil Falzon said restricting housing on the basis of skin colour or nationality was illegal, describing Maltese legislation on the issue as “crystal clear”.
A police spokesman confirmed that an investigation into the incident was “ongoing” but did not provide further details.
According to sources, the investigation is now focusing on the incident itself and the company responsible.
An advert for a three-bedroom apartment in Żebbuġ appeared on the Alliance Real Estate website earlier this month and later on the property aggregator website propertymarket.com.mt.
In addition to a note that the property could be converted into a five-bedroom townhouse, the description also stated: “No Pakistanis, Indians, Arabs and Filipinos” (sic).
The term “Paki” is a derogatory term for a person from Pakistan, which is also used to disparagingly describe people of other South Asian nationalities.
The law requires you to treat people with decency and respect
Alliance Real Estate said the words appeared online after an “internal comment” was accidentally published instead of the intended property description.
The advert has since been removed from propertymarket.com.mt – the company distanced itself from the advert when contacted by Times of Malta – and edited on the Alliance website to remove the reference.
Commenting on the case, Falzon said: “Anyone who denies a person a service based solely on the colour of their skin, nationality or origin is breaking the law… The law requires that people be treated with decency and respect.”
But according to the Malta Malayalee Association, which represents members of the Indian community, such discrimination is commonplace.
A spokesman for the organization said that South Asians are “mostly” rejected for real estate because of their nationality.
“Apartment owners often refuse to let Indians rent their apartments just because we are from our homeland,” he said, adding that the community was not surprised by the incident.
Real estate agents said Times of Malta They usually tell prospective tenants that a property is unavailable when they are restrictive landlords.
Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the Price for a coffee.
Support us
