A Syrian couple who lost their three children during the Lampedusa migrant tragedy last October were yesterday given a suspended jail term for leaving Malta illegally.

Younes Eyad Ali, 36, and his wife Krayem Dania, were sent back to Malta from Norway on July 2 after travelling there with false passports in January, Police Inspector Edel Mary Camilleri said.

Ms Ali had wanted to leave the island because it reminded her of the tragedy and her children’s deaths, the court heard yesterday.

The couple were with some 500 who were on a boat off the coast of Lampedusa on October 12, before it capsized and sank. More than 200 are believed to have died.

During the rescue, some migrants were sent to Lampedusa while others were brought to Malta.

They were not kept in detention, as per standard procedure, as they were deemed to be in a vulnerable state. The authorities also tried to integrate the Syrians with the rest of their compatriots in Malta.

During the arraignment yesterday, the couple pleaded guilty to leaving the island illegally.

In submissions on punishment, the inspector said they had lost their children and were taken into custody the day they arrived from Norway, but she gave them police bail to avoid more undue stress.

She told the court that a suspended jail term should suffice in this case, taking into consideration what they had been through.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella sentenced them to a six-month jail term, suspended for a year.

This was not the first time that survivors of that tragedy had been arraigned.

In March, Omar Yones, 23, received a six-month jail term for leaving illegally.

During his arraignment, he had threatened “to do something the whole of Malta would hear about” if he was sent to jail.

In another arraignment in February, Yahia Sharif, a 28-year-old computer technician, and Youssef Batal, 18, both admitted leaving Malta illegally. Mr Sharif was sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years, while Mr Batal was sentenced to a month in jail after the court heard that he had already been conditionally discharged for another attempt to leave Malta illegally.

According to the EU’s Dublin regulation, asylum seekers may only apply for refugee status in one member state.