A German social work agency is having second thoughts on whether to insist on the repatriation of a nine-year-old girl who it claimed had been reported missing back home.

The Maltese Foundation for Social Welfare Standards informed Magistrate Paul Coppini of the development as he continued hearing the case which had been filed on behalf of the German authorities requesting her repatriation.

The girl, Julia, had been staying in Gozo with her mother Jutta Wiedekind at a shelter for mothers with social problems run by a German NGO, when Appoġġ social workers took her into their custody.

They were working on the basis of a court order following action taken by the German Youth Welfare Office (YWO), which claimed the mother had illegally taken the child out of the country. The German agency had also sent two social workers to Malta to take custody of another two children who had been staying with their mother at the same shelter.

They flew the children back to Germany while the youngsters were in the temporary custody of Appoġġ.

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