The Ministry for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity is receiving several questions about a girl under a protection order who allegedly escaped from Malta with her mother.
The ministry would like to list the facts of the case, which are as follows.
The child lived with a foster family and had unsupervised access with her mother for a number of hours on Saturdays and Sundays. This access was possible following a decision of the review board, where even the child herself had expressed a desire to spend more time with her mother. This was part of a reintegration plan.
On Monday 12 October 2020, the Directorate for Alternative Care was informed by the foster family that the mother had failed to return the child home.
Social workers immediately visited the mother’s house where they found the door locked with a padlock. That was why a report was immediately made to the police.
Late in the afternoon of the same day, the police informed the Directorate that the mother was located in a European country.
The Children’s Directorate also spoke to the immigration office at Malta airport where it turned out that the girl had traveled illegally. Meanwhile the police also spoke to Europol to assist on the case.
The Directorate of Children is maintaining continuous communication with the police and other authorities while providing all possible assistance needed to the foster family.
