Two asylum seekers who used forged documents to flee Greece with two Turkish mothers and two toddlers in July have had their prison term confirmed by a court that is calling for a change in the authorities' “rigid” approach to such cases.
Rather than apply one yardstick, investigators and prosecutors should look into each migrant's particular circumstances and single out “genuine cases where political asylum was well and truly deserved", said Madam Justice Edwina Grima when delivering judgment against Yousef Hammat and Mohamed Lassad Briki.
In this way, investigators would be better able to present evidence that allows courts to mete out adequate punishment.
She added that the current procedure in such open-and-shut cases, where suspects register an admission and are sentenced upon arraignment, did not seem to be having the desired effect of deterring those “desperate” enough to face the risks of fleeing to some foreign land.
“It’s the state’s duty to ensure that international conventions protecting asylum seekers are respected” while those convicted should be afforded “all necessary help to apply for political asylum” and for their application to be processed “with utmost speed", she said.
The punishment handed down by the courts was meant to deter repeat offences, ensuring that criminal organisations profiting from such illegal activity “are not allowed to roam free and unchecked,” the judge said.
She also referred to the judgement delivered to the Turkish women who were accompanying the men, where Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja cast a spotlight on the worldwide network of criminals who were “fully equipped and well-organised” to exploit those who sought to travel with false documents.
Hammat and Briki had doubtlessly ended up victims of “the greed” of such criminal organisations, having told police how they had paid “ a considerable sum” for the forged passports, Madam Justice Grima observed.
The men, an Algerian and a Libyan national respectively, were arrested at the Malta International Airport alongside Rabia Yavuz and Muzekka Deneri after landing from a flight from Greece en route to Belgium.
All four were found in possession of forged travel documents. Prosecutors had told a court that human traffickers supplying those documents had probably devised a scheme through which asylum seekerswere set up as couples with small children.
Hammat and Briki were arraigned separately from their female travelling companions.
All four were handed a six-month effective jail term after pleading guilty upon their arraignment
The mothers’ lawyers had immediately filed an urgent appeal after the women were separated from their children and their punishment was revoked by means of a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja in light of the “special and extraordinary circumstances” of the case.
Hammat and Briki also appealed for a “more equitable and just punishment”, asking for clemency given the particular circumstances of the case.
Their asylum in Greece had been denied. The men had found themselves jobless and badly treated, the court was told.
They left Greece in the hope of seeking a better future in Belgium, leaving behind their dear ones in search of a living that would enable them to support their families.
Yet the court had found no evidence to support the facts mentioned by their lawyers and no reason to vary the discretion of the first court, concluded the judge while pointing out that the six-month jail term was the “absolute minimum.”
However, the court urged the prisons' director to offer the appellants all necessary help with their asylum application.