Migrant girl ruling - Refugee agencies criticised by the court

Refugee agencies came in for criticism by a judge yesterday in a detailed judgement which established that a five-year-old migrant girl who has been living with a Maltese carer for almost all of her life, should travel to Switzerland with her biological parents as part of an EU relocation programme. The young girl left for Switzerland in the afternoon  in accordance with Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro's painful decision, leaving behind the person who looked after her since she was four months' old and who wanted time to prepare her for the traumatic move. In finding in favour of the biological parents, Madam Justice Lofaro hit out at the UN refugees agency, the International Organisation for Migration and the Swiss and Maltese authorities for failing to examine the situation in detail and make the necessary arrangements for the child to be prepared for the transition. The Maltese woman's lawyer later also accused the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of "failing miserably" by not being aware that the girl was "single- handedly" brought up by her client and would be separated from her when it chose families to be relocated. She said the UNHCR...