An 18-year-old Eritrean woman's desperate bid to join her partner in Malta while he awaits relocation to the United States suffered a setback today when she was jailed for a month for coming to the island using false documents. 

Dehab Arefe was convicted of having made use of a false passport and other personal documents to gain entry into Malta from Eritrea via Italy. 

The woman had wanted to join her boyfriend who is currently in Malta but has been selected for relocation to the US. But the court ordered that once she serves her sentence, she must be sent back to Italy. 

The court heard the prosecution argue that such cases were on the rise and therefore, immigration laws needed to be applied strictly to deter such unlawful migrants from seeking refuge in Malta. 

The accused had fled Eritrea to avoid military service and out of a desire to join her loved one who had obtained refugee status in Malta

The defence argued that this was a humanitarian case. The accused had fled Eritrea to avoid military service and out of a desire to join her loved one who had obtained refugee status in Malta and who, recently had received the welcome news of his relocation to the United States. 

"This was an act committed out of despair to join her partner," the court was told by the defence. 

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja observed that the local authorities have a right to know the true identity of every person entering the country, "particularly in these times of upheaval, conflict and terrorism".

In spite of the accused's early guilty plea and otherwise clean criminal record sheet, the court declared it could not turn a blind eye to the offence committed.

For this reason, the court condemned Ms Arefe to one-month imprisonment and ordered the police to make all necessary arrangements for the woman to be sent back to Italy. 

"This phenomenon of illegal migration through the use of false documents poses serious risks even to innocent persons," the court concluded.