Child custody protest suspended

The Egyptian national who for the past five days was protesting outside the law courts in Valletta over the custody of his two sons suspended his hunger strike late yesterday evening.

Following an intervention by the police, Ashraf El Bakri was last night expected to meet top police officers and a representative from the Egyptian Embassy in a bid to find a solution to the impasse.

Mr El Bakri has been sleeping in a makeshift bed outside the law courts in Valletta since Saturday. Looking dishevelled, Mr El Bakri yesterday morning reiterated that he did not intend to move until the authorities listen to what he had to say and give him back his two sons who, he insists, had been seized.

The Ministry of Family and Social Solidarity, which disagrees that the boys had been "seized", has been in contact with the Egyptian Embassy, the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Care in the Community, the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General over the matter.

"The Egyptian Ambassador will be meeting the children in the coming days and the ministry will act according to the advice given by the Attorney General and the Egyptian Ambassador himself," a ministry spokesman said.

Mr El Bakri was asking the public to sign a petition in solidarity with his cause. Earlier this month, Mr El Bakri, who is married to a Maltese woman, filed a constitutional application arguing that the authorities seized his two sons from his custody in June last year.

The two boys, who are not the offspring of the Maltese wife, are aged 10 and 14 and have been placed under a care order, he said.

When contacted, the ministry spokesman said Mr El Bakri was completely incorrect in saying that the authorities had "seized" his sons.

"The Maltese authorities do not seize children. They take children into temporary care when there are allegations of serious abuse or neglect. The parents or guardians have the right to object in our courts.

"The authorities intend to return children to their families whenever and as soon as possible... However, the interests of vulnerable children remain a priority and the wishes of the children who are capable of expressing themselves are taken into consideration."

The ministry spokesman said the children's social workers had made various arrangements so that Mr El Bakri would be able to meet his children at the Islamic mosque in Corradino every Friday.

In his constitutional application, Mr El Bakri said he had been involved in a traffic accident that left him with a permanent disability and the authorities had prevented him from vindicating his rights to compensation against third parties. Besides, he added, the authorities denied him social assistance.

The ministry spokesman said it had acted in terms of the provisions of the Social Security Act. "As he is married to, and not separated from, a Maltese citizen whose income renders the household ineligible for social benefits, then he is not personally entitled to social benefits.

"This is precisely what happens in the case of a Maltese couple in similar circumstances," the spokesman explained.

When asked about the hunger strike, the ministry spokesman replied: "Mr El Bakri is free to choose the way he deems best to make his case known both to the authorities and the public at large.

However, this ministry believes such issues are best addressed within the existing legislative parameters".