The Children's Commissioner is calling for heightened security at the airport to prevent the abduction of children.

Her comments follow news that a girl in foster care was reported missing and has been traced to a European country. 

The girl is believed to have travelled there illegally with her biological mother three weeks ago. The mother had unsupervised access to her for a number of hours on Saturdays and Sundays, at the girl's request as part of a reintegration plan.

On Friday, the Office of the Commissioner for Children expressed concern over the case of the girl, taken out of the country illegally while under a care order.

"While empathising with the foster parents for their loss, the office appeals to the authorities to continue to work with European authorities to locate the girl, ensure her safety and bring her back to Malta as soon as possible.

"The office would also like to emphasise, as it has done on other occasions, the need for security measures at the airport to be strengthened so as to prevent such cases from reoccurring."