Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1398811
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 AUGUST 2021 NEWS THE Office of the Com- missioner for Children has weighed in on the debate sparked by the jailing of two mothers fleeing Turkey, ar- guing that the decision to im- prison the mothers should be reversed. It urged the judiciary to be more sensitive when dealing with similar cases to avoid further trauma to the chil- dren. The commissioner's state- ment comes after the jailing of Rabia Yavuz and Muzekka Deneri, who were sentenced to six months imprisonment after pleading guilty to of- fences relating to tampering with passports and the use of false passports. Their two young children were present in the court- room as the women were jailed and were separated from their mothers. "Article 9 of the UN Con- vention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that children should not be sep- arated from their parents. The same Article also states that if for some reason chil- dren are separated from their parents, they should maintain personal relations and have direct contact with their parents," said the com- missioner in a statement is- sued on Tuesday afternoon. The authorities should take the necessary action to ensure that the children are protected and that decisions are taken in their best inter- ests, said the Office of the Commissioner for Children, whilst making an appeal to the Judiciary to be sensitive towards such cases and to ensure that the rights of all children are guaranteed. "Other forms of sentenc- ing should have been ex- plored in the case of these migrants, therefore, the decision to jail the mothers should be redressed as soon as possible to minimise the trauma caused." The office urged all the en- tities involved to ensure that the children are well taken care of, that they are ena- bled to maintain meaningful contact with their mothers and that their privacy is re- spected. Children's commissioner urges sensitivity from judiciary in the wake of Turkish mothers' jailing Children's Commissioner Pauline Miceli THE Nationalist Party has urged the government to investigate whether protocols for protecting young children and trafficking victims were observed in the case of two mothers jailed for using false documents to flee persecu- tion in Turkey. In a statement on Tuesday, the party questioned what role the Directorate for the Protec- tion of Children had in the case. "Why had the children been exposed to dramatic proceed- ings in court, possibly trauma- tising them? What contact was there now between the mothers and their sons," the party asked. The PN also questioned whether enough had been done to establish whether or not the mothers and their children were effectively victims of hu- man trafficking. The mothers, teachers Rabia Yavuz and Muzekka Deneri, are currently in prison, having admitted to passport offences after being arrested in Malta on their way to Brussels. The young children were present in the courtroom on Wednesday as the women were jailed. The toddlers screamed help- lessly as their mothers were led away. The children are now in the care of the Foundation for So- cial Welfare Services. In an appeal application filed on Monday, the mothers' law- yers, Gianluca Cappitta and Jason Grima argued that the six-month jail term handed to them was excessive and said the women had fled to Greece and were on their way to Brussels to renew expiring documentation. The mothers' lawyers are un- derstood to be preparing a re- quest for bail for their clients, pending the outcome of the appeal. The Nationalist Party urges the government to investigate whether protocols for protecting young children and trafficking victims were observed PN calls for government investigation into Turkish mothers case