The birth of a migrant baby born on a boat just before it entered Malta in November 2008 remains unregistered, Emigrants’ Commission chairman Mgr Philip Calleja said this morning as he called for a solution to this human problem.

The baby, Muna, was born to Chama Hatra, a Somali mother, who was on a boat that left Libya with some 67 migrants, all in the hope of seeking refuge in Europe.

Just after the baby was born, the migrants were rescued by a Russian ship, which was eventually brought to Malta.

In July 2009, Chama and Muna left for France, as part of a responsibility sharing initiative between the French and Maltese authorities.

But the child remained unregistered.

The Emigrants’ Commission unsuccessfully filed an application in the family court requesting the court to consider Muna’s registration. The application was then moved to the Civil Court, where it was also denied.

The commission wrote to the Ombudsman in November 2012 explaining that in spite of all the attempts made, Ms Hatra and her daughter left Malta for France with the girl’s birth still unregistered.

Although the Civil Code was eventually amended to enable the director of Public Registry to accept registration of births at sea, according to correspondence between the Ombudsman and the Home Affairs Ministry, the authorities still refused to register the child as she was not born on the boat that had entered Malta.

Mgr Calleja said the registration of a birth was considered a human right and for one to be unregistered was poverty that threw one deeper in the pits of poverty.