Opening up the island: a 'counter-islandness' approach to migration in Malta.

This paper is based on qualitative research undertaken since 2010 with African immigrants living in the small island state of Malta. Its purpose is to deconstruct a number of discourses and preconceptions about irregular migration, migrants and islandness. We argue that, in order to better understand the situation of migrants in Malta, we have to engage critically with conventional wisdom that depicts (usually small) islands as isolated, immobile and homogeneous spaces. Using a spatial approach, we propose the term 'counterislandness' to describe a migration situation characterized by movement (versus immobility) and articulation of scales (versus isolation). We show how different scales in their complex and multiple interactions contribute to shaping and determining the future and trajectories of the 'undesirables'. We explain how Malta has found itself at the heart of a complex circulatory system, articulating mobilities operating at various scales. We then categorise the role of the island within migratory patterns into three different forms: the island as barrier, hub, and place of settlement.