Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/433160
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2014 6 News JURGEN BALZAN A 23-year-old mother this week turned to the Prime Minister for help after her five-year-old son was returned to his father in the UK while she is being kept in the dark over the child's whereabouts and wellbeing. Last week, the court of appeal upheld the family court's decision to return the child to the father in Manchester, after she was accused of abducting the child in Decem- ber 2013. The woman told MaltaToday that after living with the son's fa- ther for over a year in the UK, she moved out and rented an apart- ment because of the "verbal and psychological" abuse she was suf- fering at the man's hand. However, after three months, the woman lost her part-time job when the company she was em- ployed with folded, and since she could no longer pay rent and the boy's father refused to offer any financial help beyond the £35 weekly allowance he paid, she de- cided to return to Malta with her son who was born out of wedlock in 2009. She did so upon the guidance of the Citizen Advice Bureau in the UK who reassured her that she had every right to return to Malta with her son as long as there was no court order prohibiting her from travelling. Despite this advice, on Friday, 5 December 2014, hours after the court of appeal upheld the family court's decision to return the child to the father, the woman was al- lowed to speak to the child for five minutes at his school before two court marshals and his father took him away. "They took him away without telling me when he would be trav- elling to the UK and where he would be taken," the distraught woman told MaltaToday. Since then, the mother has been denied access to the child as the fa- ther is refusing to take her calls. "I have been trying to call my son's dad several times every day but to no avail. I have even sent him messages on his phone and on social media sites to see where my son is and to make arrangements on when and how I can see and speak to my son." But so far, the father has refused to answer, with the exception of one SMS he sent last Friday, in- forming her that if she wished to contact him she had to do so through her lawyers. "I called the police to check whether they can at least con- firm whether he's still in Malta or whether he's abroad. I am fully aware of the court's decision but I need to know where he is and how my son is doing," she said. After being told that the police could not do anything for her, the woman filed a Concern for Wel- fare request in the UK and one week after last seeing her son she was told by the British authorities that her son was well. However, while being denied the possibility to speak to her son on the phone and hear his voice for the first time in 10 days, she has not been told where her son is and who is looking after him. The mother, who still enjoys the legal right to shared care and custody of her five-year-old son is claiming that the Maltese court's "short-sighted" decision to allow the father to take the boy back to the UK is in breach of her right to have access and know where her son is. In a heartfelt appeal to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the wom- an asked "Are these the laws which are in place to safeguard the vul- nerable?" Last July, the family court de- cided that the woman had brought the child to Malta without the fa- ther's consent. The sentence says that the mother did so because she was terrified the father would pre- vent her from travelling to Malta together with her son. But the woman – who at first made use of legal aid – argues that after moving out of the house she shared with the man, she had an agreement that if she found herself in financial difficulties she would move to Malta. The court based its decision on the fact that the woman intended to stay in the UK since she had taken up an educational one-year course, paid for a TV licence and signed up the child for kindergar- ten and with the National Health Services. With the man claims the contra- ry, the woman told the court that she had never intended to migrate to the UK permanently and de- cided to return to Malta "because I put my child's well being before my education and anything else." She also explained that before returning to Malta she had applied for welfare benefits in the UK, but the Department of Work & Pen- sions negated her application on the ground that for benefit pur- poses she is not considered to be "habitually resident" in the UK. The woman also stressed that despite her offer to cooperate with the authorities and her readiness to accompany her child to the UK with the father, this was refused by the court. She also said that the court com- pletely overlooked the fact that her son was settled in Malta and was doing well at school in the past 12 months. "I cannot make any sense of this, because I offered to take him to the UK myself, together with his father if need be, but the court de- cided against this as they claimed my presence would traumatise the child," she said, adding that she was concerned since the Mal- tese court did not seek assurances about the father's ability to care for the child. Moreover, she said that the court approved the AG's request to is- sue a new passport for the child without notifying her and with- out giving her the opportunity to appeal the decision. She has since filed a counter-protest in court but this will not be decided before next week as the magistrate gave the authorities four days to reply, meaning that the court will not take a decision before tomorrow (Monday). "I have now decided to travel back to the UK and attempt to meet my son but his father has made it clear that he doesn't want to speak to me." British lawyers the woman con- tacted this week have informed her that since the father is denying her access to her son it will take tens of thousands of pounds, which she cannot raise, and months to get a UK court to guarantee her access. "My life is in tatters and both I and my son are traumatised fol- lowing the torrent of abuse we went through. I have done all I could to start from scratch for my son's sake and now that we had achieved some normality they have snatched him away from me and turned my son's life upside down. I implore for your help, I don't know who else can help me," she told the Prime Minister in her letter. Woman left in the dark Over her five-year-old son's whereabouts and wellbeing "I called the police to check whether they can at least confirm whether he's still in Malta or whether he's abroad. I am fully aware of the court's decision but I need to know where he is and how my son is doing"