The Ministry for Family Affairs is evaluating any possible loopholes in entry and exit systems out of the country following the abduction of two German children from Malta.

Replying to a series of questions by Nationalist MP Clyde Puli, Family Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said that on July 18 this year the courts issued a temporary order for Jaydan and Jeremias Albrecht and Julia Wiedekind to be entrusted to the care of Appoġġ while legal custody was verified.

The court order was confirmed on July 19. No temporary care order was issued as social workers and the police were expecting the German authorities to take the necessary steps to repatriate the children in a matter of days and because none of the authorities had any negative information except that Jeremias had been found wandering alone in a field and the children had been reported missing in Germany.

Dr Farrugia said the procedure for the Immigration Police to be informed that children under care orders should not leave the island was still in force but did not apply to the case because the children were the subject of a court order, not a care order.

Appoġġ had asked the police and other authorities to investigate how the children had been spirited out of Malta and what had happened was not the result of negligence on the part of Appoġġ staff, the minister said.

He said that together with other departments the ministry was evaluating possible loopholes in entry and exit systems, especially as a result of the new realities of Schengen.

The minister said that the first official request from Germany had been made via e-mail, but missing documents or incorrect information had delayed the court application for the children’s repatriation to Germany. By the time the government had all the necessary documentation for the court application, the social workers who had arrived in Malta had obtained authorisation from the Youth Welfare Organisation of Schweinfurt, Bavaria.

At the same time consultations were being held with the German Embassy on account of language problems with the children and accommodation for the social workers.

One of the workers had arrived in Malta on June 29 while the other, who had also been coordinating all the work involving the two minors, arrived on July 5.