A Maltese mother is at her wit’s end after her former longterm partner fled to Libya with their two children over a month ago, only to return to Malta without them. 

Unable to trace her two children and left with no contact details nor location to find them, Roanna Pisani spoke to Lovin Malta about the horrific ordeal she was going through after leaving her former 16 year relationship, which she described as “abusive”.

Four years on, she says her circumstances are even worse off than when living in a domestic abuse situation as now she is suffering from parental alienation and finding little support from Malta’s police force and other institutions.

Around a month ago, her former partner, who is Libyan, took their 14-year-old boy and nine-year-old girl – who lives with him – to Libya, without getting her permission or following the agreed stipulations present in their joint custody contract.

It was only two weeks ago that she confirmed they were no longer in the country.

Since then, her former partner had returned to the island without the children. And today, images of her daughter wearing traditional clothing, such as a hijab, appeared on social media, posted by a distant family member living in Dubai, leading to new concerns that her daughter has been taken to Dubai.

“The police told me it’s not an abduction, and without an abduction report, I cannot do anything,” Pisani said. Saying she had gone to the police station and courts several times over the last two weeks in an attempt to get in contact with her children, she said she was now feeling “helpless”.

Eventually, police were able to provide Pisani with a contact number to speak to her children – however, only her son responded, saying his sister wasn’t with him. And after that phone call, the number provided is no longer ringing.

“My kids were taken without my permission, and are now in Libya, without their parents,” Pisani said.

Pisani, and her lawyer, are attempting to file another police report and they still hope they can resolve this issue and reunite her with her children. However, Pisani says that she’s now even worse off than when she lived in her “abusive relationship”, where at least she could see her children.

“I left four years ago, but it’s been even worse than living under 16 years of violence. I’m living through child alienation, and it’s making me feel crazy, I can no longer deal with the mental stress I’ve had to live through for so long.”

What do you make of this horrific scenario?