Child born at sea 'has right to be registered'

A Somali, who gave birth on an immigrant boat three days before reaching Malta, is calling on the authorities to grant her baby a birth certificate.

Hatra Chama is arguing that without this certificate her child, now nine months old, does not have a formal identity, status and citizenship that everyone has a right to.

Ms Chama, who has since travelled in France, filed an application in the First Hall of the Civil Court through a legal representative.

The 25-year-old mother explained she was born in Somalia where she married and had three children. She left her homeland in March 2008 when she was pregnant with her fourth child, Muna.

After travelling through Ethiopia and Sudan, she left Libya on a boat of 70 immigrants on November 1 and gave birth on the boat the following day.

The people on board were rescued by the Russian ship, Yelena Shatrova, before being brought to Malta. The ship delayed entering the harbour because of rough weather. On November 5, the immigrants landed in Malta where Ms Chama and her baby were given registration numbers by the police.

After applying for refugee status, Ms Chama and her daughter last month left for France with about 90 other migrants who enjoy international protection, as part of a responsibility sharing initiative between French and Maltese authorities. She now hopes to be reunited with the rest of her family who are still in Somalia.

Before her departure she had applied for Muna's birth certificate at the public registry but her request was denied. As the certificate cannot be issued in France, it would leave the child with no formal identity, she pointed out.

In the application, Ms Chama's representative, lawyer Tonio Azzopardi, argued that the fact the child's parents were not Maltese was irrelevant to the issuing of a birth certificate. Similarly, he argued, it was irrelevant that Muna was not born in local territorial waters or on a Maltese-registered boat.

It was every child's right to be registered at birth. Since the child was born on an unregistered vessel, the birth was to be documented in Malta. After all the child and her mother were brought to Malta where they were granted humanitarian protection.

Failing to issue the birth certificate meant depriving the child of a basic right, the lawyer insisted. He called on the court to order the child's birth be registered by the public registry.

Last year 60 babies were born to migrant mothers housed in open centres. Contrary to popular belief, children born in Malta to immigrants do not automatically qualify for citizenship.

For citizenship to be granted to a child, one of the parents has to be Maltese. In Malta, refugees can be granted citizenship after living on the island for 10 years and only after applying and going through all background checks.