A human rights activist has a motorbike targeted by vandals

Outspoken social worker and human rights activist Omar Rababah saw his motorbike targeted by vandals who cut off his motorbike’s throttle.

Rababah said he believed the vandalism was the work of someone who did not appreciate his public stance on social issues, including integration and migration.

The activist discovered the damage when he was unable to start his motorbike, which was parked in Gżira, after spending several days without using it.

He took the bike to his mechanic, who traced the fault back to the throttle cable, which was cut with a tool.

“Thank God it wasn’t the brakes because I could have been killed,” he added.

Rababah shared a photo of the severed cable on Facebook, saying he forgave anyone.

A social worker at the Migrant Learners’ Unit, Rababah is known for taking on Islamophobic and racist commentators and speaking out quite openly about it.

He recently denounced Syrian nationals involved in a brawl in Ħamrun, but also the authorities for not having offered a “serious integration program”, despite a request for European funds.

He said he was tired of token ceremonies and meetings that did not lead to any practical solution.

On Wednesday, he also lamented that a meeting between Prime Minister Robert Abela and the mayors of Marsa and Ħamrun did not include the participation of migrants, ethnic minority community leaders and NGOs, which he said -he said, should be involved in finding a solution to the locality problem. problems.

Mayors, he said, opted for a populist stance that secured their re-election, while migrants were barred from voting.

Born in Malta to a Syrian father and a Maltese mother, the 30-year-old is also a human rights activist. After devoting his postgraduate studies to the experience of Muslim students in Malta, he monitors vulnerable people in his spare time. , volunteers with local NGOs and in the past has also coached a group of international amateur footballers.