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Controversial Order To Separate Toddlers From Mothers Fleeing Persecution Must Be Investigated, PN Urges

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The Nationalist Party has called for an investigation into the controversial court-ordered separation of two toddlers from their mothers in Malta.

The investigation must look into whether official protocols protecting children’s rights as well as the rights of victims of trafficking were followed, they said, calling on Prime Minister Robert Abela to get the ball rolling.

“The Family Ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry should also investigate whether there were any other failures in regards protecting children’s rights both in this case as well as any other case involving children,” they said.

“In this investigation, the ministries are urged to identify where the failures were and address them with effective measures,” the PN continued.

Sina Deneri, 4, and Akif Yavuz, 3

Sina Deneri, 4, and Akif Yavuz, 3

Their call comes after two Turkish mothers and teachers – Rabia Yavuz, 27, and Muzekka Deneri, 29 – were jailed after admitting to using falsified passports as they travelled through Malta on their way to Brussels.

The two mothers said they were fleeing persecution from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime in Turkey and were seeking asylum – however, a Maltese court ordered they be separated from their children and imprisoned for six months.

The toddlers speak neither English nor Maltese. Currently, they are communicating with their mothers via Skype.

The toddlers, Akif Yavuz, 3, and Sina Deneri, 4, were last seen and heard crying outside the courtroom while their mothers were being tried.

The mothers’ lawyers have since filed an appeal calling the imprisonment “disportioncate and excessive”. They now plan to apply for bail to return to their sons.

Yavuz and Deneri fled Turkey to Greece around 11 months ago to escape persecution from President Erdogan’s regime as they form part of the Gülen movement, a group accused of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt.

Do you think Malta’s court acted appropriately by separating these mothers from their children?

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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